Faith of the Gods
by deckape420
Summary: (TOS Universe) A discovery puts Commander Michels on the road to salvation or destruction for mankind on Earth. Please RR


BATTLESTAR GALACTICA  
  
"FAITH OF THE GODS"  
  
DISCLAIMER: We know who owns what. This story is a labor of Love. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to e-mail me at deckape420@msn.com  
  
Prolog.  
  
Battlestar America  
  
1900 EST.  
  
Captain Jason Michels glanced up from the papers he was Reading, to look out the window of his private quarters. Below him was the planet Earth in all of her beauty. Deep Blue oceans; white clouds bringing out her true beauty. On The upper right he could see the Battle Carrier Independence Coming in from her shakedown cruise to the outer planets. To The left her saw the tanker Neosho and the heavy cruiser Challenger. He knew everything about them ships from there top speed to their firepower. But they were nothing compared to his ship the America. The America is over a mile long and a half-mile at her widest point She weighed in at a whopping 4 and a half trillion metric tons. She had  
  
A crew of 6,000 and over 150 Starfighters class fighters. She is heavily armored and shielded. She is armed with 3 pulse lasers each capable of wiping out a city the size of LA with just a couple direct hits. She also carried 10 missiles on both her port and starboard sides. Each contains  
  
3 nuclear warheads, Along with her 90 anti aircraft batteries, the America packed quite a punch. Her two massive reactors that burned a rare fuel called tylium, when at full throttle, the America is capable of achieving light speed. She also has hyper drive, making her fastest ship, man has ever sailed in.  
  
He thought back to the time he was a fresh out of flight school. He was assigned to the VF-33 Starfighters. His squadron was assigned to the USS America (CV-66). He had a lot of firsts onboard that ship, including his first taste of combat during Desert Storm. He stayed with VF-33 until the mid 90's when the top brass decided to cut some costs and both the America and his squadron were decommissioned. His next duty station took him to flight school as an instructor, till the beginning of the new millennium. From there he was transferred to the "John C. Stennis" where he became the ship " CAG" officer.  
  
He glanced at his watch 1905 hours. He had less that one hour till the America started on the greatest campaign of her life. "The unification of Earth and the 12 colonies of man." He stood looking out the window looking at the sight below him. He still could not fathom what had happen to him and the planet below him just 10 years ago. The discovery of the pyramid. It had changed his planet so much in such quick time. He shook his head and grabbed his ever-present cup of coffee. After taking a healthy gulp of the hot beverage, he gathered his things and headed to the bridge.  
  
"Captain on the bridge!" shouted the every present marine guard as he walked onto the Bridge.  
  
"As you were." He said as he walked to his station.  
  
He glanced around the bridge, still amazed by it sizes. It was a tri-leveled bridge, right at 90 ft squared. His station was at the up most level, spreading out over the other two levels, it was from there he would command this ship.  
  
"XO" he bellowed, "What's out status?"  
  
He waited for a few seconds and when his XO didn't respond, he shouted again. "XO what is our status, please?"  
  
"Sorry sir." he heard his XO shout back from across the bridge.  
  
Captain Michels turned and looked at his XO standing at the main scanner station.  
  
"Report Mister Harris!" Captain Michels exclaimed  
  
Commander Rachel Harris looked at her commanding officer and responded. "Sir"  
  
"All underway stations are manned and ready, all department heads report that all is present and accounted for."  
  
"Very well, carry on" he said  
  
Rachel Harris, his XO, His friend and his best friend resumed her tasks at hand. He looks at her and smiled. Remembering the first time they met. Upon his arrival to the Stennis, Naturally he was giving the choice of Rio's aboard ship. He flew with each RIO onboard seeing what they were made of. He partied with them, got drunk and generally raised total hell. He had narrowed it down to Rachel and a Certain Lieutenant named Cummings. Cummings had the smarts, but not the instinct. Rachel on the other hand had both, plus there was something about her that he couldn't put his finger on. Her face lit up every time they flew. She loved to fly even if it was just as his RIO. He chose her and their incredible journey had begun. She too was involved in that fateful year. He sat in his chair, kicked his feet up on the nearest console, and  
  
remembered...........  
  
1530 hrs  
  
Bermuda Triangle  
  
Life is funny sometimes. You never know what it's going to throw at you till it happens. Then when it does, you wonder why me O' Lord, why me. At this point in time Commander Jason Michels was asking himself that very Question. Here he was, a Commander in the US Navy and what was he doing? He was playing nursemaid to a Pain in the Butt Senator and his little group of Liberal news nerds, who wanted nothing better than to find something wasteful about the US Navy, but to top it all off that Senator was a former shipmate.  
  
Five Years ago, Senator Justin Cummings was Lieutenant. Justin "Fuzzy" Cummings, one of the Best RIO'S Jason had ever seen. As a matter of fact, He was almost His RIO (Radio Intercept Officer) until he decided to go with his current RIO Lieutenant Rachel Harris. He didn't take it very well being beat out by a woman so he left the Military and soon afterward got into politics. He's a freshly voted in Senator who thinks the Navy 's role in the world, should decrease. He even suggested to Congress that Carriers should be mothballed, to save money.  
  
So here he was on a C-41 Greyhound heading towards the USS John C. Stennis. Onboard was the Senator, along with 3 aides, a CNN Reporter and her cameraman. The reporter was nice to look at, maybe a little too much of a blonde, but she was your typical female reporter. Also onboard, because He felt like it, was his RIO Lieutenant. Harris. A slight smile curled his lip as he remembered her reaction to the news that she was flying with him to play baby sitter. She had just lit one of those stupid cigars she smoked and threatened to put it out where the sun don't shine if he didn't change his mind, but if he had to suffer, so did she.  
  
"Commander, May I ask you a question?"  
  
He turned toward the direction of the voice and saw that one of the Senators aids; a 19-year-old college student had positioned herself beside him.  
  
"Well" he began, "You already asked me a question, but what do you want to know?  
  
Christi Mcduffy, look at the Commander, paused and with a slight hint of embarrassment, asked him. How much longer it was before they reached the boat, because she had to go.  
  
Jason laughed out loudly and said "Ma'am, the Stennis is not a Boat, She's a ship. Boats are something you row or go sailing in. As far as going to the Head, You have to wait about 30 more minutes."  
  
He got the reaction out of her that he wanted, she blushed at the word head, said something about sexual harassment in the navy and stormed back to her original seat beside the Senator. At this point, Jason nodded towards his RIO Lieutenant. Rachel Harris. She nodded in return and replied toward the young aid. "Honey, you have to remember that was not sexual harassment, Commander Michels would have said the same thing to any body whether it would be male or female, isn't that right Fuzzy? She asked toward Sen. Cummings.  
  
Sen. Cummings, who sat up the whole thing, nodded his head in agreement. He knew what the commander's reaction would be having served under him a few years back. His memories of Commander Michels was not pleasant. He and the commander had a falling out when the bitch in front of him took his spot as the commander's Rio. He felt the commander showed Bias towards him and chose Lieutenant. Harris because she had a nice Rack. The thought that she was a better RIO than himself was ridiculous. He felt the Greyhound turn to port and looked out the plane's window. He saw that they were in the process of turning around. He looked at the Commander and asked him why were they turning around?  
  
Commander Michels wondered the same thing and got up to head towards the cabin of the plane, He was about to enter the cabin when the Greyhound lurched and sent him sprawling into the lap of his RIO. She looked up at him and calmly said, "CAG, would ya mind moving your ass. I need my lap for other things besides holding you!" The twinkle in her eye told him that it was cool and he sat up said he was sorry and continued toward the cabin. Once he got there he heard the navigator says that the storm had moved faster than they had thought and that they were going to have to rough it out. Jason quickly kneeled down beside the pilot and asked him what was up?  
  
Lieutenant David Watson put the Greyhound on auto and turned toward him  
  
"CAG" he began "A major squall just popped up between us and home plate. Winds are steady at 45 mph with gusts up to 100. She's a hell of a storm CAG and she's heading toward us."  
  
Do you think that there is a chance of out running it or maybe going over her? Asked Jason. "No way CAG, She's starting to wrap and in about 5 minutes we will be in the heart of it, and her ceiling is higher than this ol' bird can fly. Like Lieutenant. Anderson said, we are going to have to rough it out. The Stennis is steaming away from the storm, it looks like we are on our own."  
  
"Keep me informed David."  
  
"Will do CAG"  
  
Jason left the cockpit and informed every one of the situation. Everybody seemed to understand the nature of the emergency.  
  
He sat back down in his seat feeling the plane jerk and sway in the coming storm. He looked out the window and was amazed at what he saw. The dark clouds seemed to appear out of nowhere. Everywhere he looked there was darkness. Below he could see the Atlantic Ocean it looked very imposing he said a quick prayer hoping that they wouldn't have to ditch. Just as he finished the prayer Murphy's Law struck, lighting hit the port engine causes the plane to drop hard. He looked out the window and saw the engine was on fire.  
  
"David" he shouted "the port engine is on fire, shut it down!" He said as he headed towards the cockpit  
  
As he got to the cockpit the plane lurched again. The pilot was struggling with the controls. He told the commander that the port engine had been shut down, but it was murder on the starboard engine. She couldn't handle the stress much longer; he suggested to CAG that they had better prepare for a crash landing. Jason agreed and asked if there were any islands close by.  
  
"No sir" began the Navigator "The closest land is Charleston, 150 miles north west of our position.  
  
Oh great he thought here they were in the middle of a major storm right smack dabs in the Bermuda triangle. He was about to tell everyone to prepare for a crash landing when he heard it. It started out as a low pitch sound then it became louder and louder, almost unbearable when the cameraman shouted "look UFO's, they are everywhere" everyone rushed towards a window and was awestruck by what the saw, 20 or 30 balls of light were surrounding the plane darting here and there with astonishing speed. The plane was shaking, the News nerds were calling for their mama, and these damn lights weren't helping matters.  
  
He felt it before he heard it, a sharp pain in his ears the sound was different louder and more intense, the pain was unbearable he looked around everyone was covering his or her ears moaning and shouting in pain, everything was moving in slow motion, the pains, God the pain, he prayed for God's help, but before he could complete his prayer, blackness over took him.  
  
Pain, pain is a good thing, for one thing it lets you know that you are alive, and alive is good. Commander Michels open his eyes slowly, first he couldn't make out anything; everything was blurry. As his eyes adjusted to the light he looked around almost everyone was moaning and groaning, but some was still passed out. He asked those awake if they were OK, most said they were find, just bewildered at what had just happen. He too wondered what had just happened since he realized that they were on dry land, he could here the surf crashing in the background.  
  
"Has anybody looked outside yet?" He asked. Everyone shook his or her head no. He got up and walked toward the cockpit. The pilot and copilot were still unconscious, but the navigator was awake. Lieutenant Anderson sat there looking out the window, just staring.  
  
"Kevin, what are you looking at?"  
  
"Sir," he began I just want to know one thing?"  
  
"And that is?"  
  
"Just where in the hell did this island come from?"  
  
"You tell me, what does the GPS say?"  
  
Lieutenant Anderson looked at the GPS and shrugged his shoulders, "beats me sir nothing is working"  
  
He continued with "I mean nothing is broke, everything checks out, but;"  
  
"But what Lieutenant." Asked Comdr. Michels  
  
"Well sir, I just tried to send out an SOS on the radio, but it's weird. The signal kept bouncing back causing severe static."  
  
"What do you mean it keeps bouncing back?" He asked with a puzzled look on his face  
  
"Well sir, my best guess is that we are being jammed, I mean everything is blocked, I tried am, fm, short-wave, nothing I mean nothing is being picked up"  
  
"Are you sure that the radio is working properly?"  
  
"Yes sir, I've checked and double checked, nothing is getting out or in"  
  
Commander Michels thought for a second and told Lieutenant. Anderson to look after his shipmates and that he was going outside the plane to look around. He left the cockpit and headed toward the door. When Sen. Cummings approached him, by the look in his eye Commander Michels knew the Senator had a few questions.  
  
"Yes, Senator, what do you want?"  
  
Senator Cummings stopped in his tracks and looked at his former shipmate in the eyes and started into him  
  
"CAG, when we get back, I am going to have the Navy's ass handed to them!"  
  
Commander Michels asked him on what grounds Senator Cummings continued  
  
"The navy is purely responsible for this mess and I am going to see to it that they pay.  
  
"Sir," started Commander Michels "how can you blame the navy for this, this was an accident"  
  
"I know that CAG, I blaming the Navy for sending us out here when there was a storm brewing, they should have checked the weather reports."  
  
"Sir, with all due respect, I know Lieutenant. Watson, I know that he checked the weather forecast, because I was with him when he did. I saw the reports myself, it called for partly cloudy skies near the Vinson and a high of 85."  
  
Senator Cummings looked stumped; he mumbled something about the Navy and went to check on his aids.  
  
Commander Michels returned to the hatch on the plane. He grabbed the handle and pulled. The hatch open and he got a good look at his surroundings. As he peaked his head out the door, the smell of saltwater hit him; yup he thought they Was defiantly on a beach somewhere.  
  
He lowered the plane's steps and walked down them, that's when he realized that the plane had not crashed at all, somehow the plane had landed. He walked toward the end of the plane when he noticed something else. There were no tracks in the sand. Nothing, it looked like the plane had been picked out of the sky and placed here. He turned around and noticed that people were slowly leaving the plane. He looked back toward the sand shook his head and went to join them.  
  
It had been 2 hrs since he left the plane; everyone was back Too normal so to speak. Everyone experienced the same thing, the pain, noise and passing out. They took an Inventory of the plane's emergency rations and were shocked to learned that they were not enough food and water for everyone. That was when the cameraman for CNN Travis Rich opens one of his bags and poured out the contents. Junk food lots and lots of junk food, from snicker bars to Frito's. Everyone thanked him, he said it was the least he could do, after all everyone's survival is important.  
  
They decided since they were in the need of water that they would break off into groups and search. Commander Michels made sure everyone knew to meet back at the plane in 2 hours. They all agreed. They broke off into 3 separate Groups; his group consisted of him, Lieutenant. Harris, and one of the Senator's Aids. The other group was Lieutenant. Anderson, Miss Kinsley and her cameraman Travis, the others, would gather firewood and make a signal fire. They started off heading toward the mountain, which dominated the island; there they should find water.  
  
The trip to the mountain was uneventful, to pass the time they talked about what had happen and about each other. It took them about 15 minutes of walking through thick brush to reach the mountain's base. As they approached the base, Miss Mcduffy, as she liked to be called, noticed that the mountain from here kinda looked like a pyramid. Jason looked up through the trees and noticed it also he said jokingly that "maybe we will find a mummy or two?" Miss Mcduffy, looked at him with this stupid look on her face that maybe here, they would find a mummy? He laughs to himself and continues on, the mountain was getting bigger.  
  
**********  
  
Travis Rich was tried and miserable, the sun was getting unbearable and there was no source of water nowhere to be seen, And to make matters worse, he had a big fatty rolled and he wanted to burn it so bad, But, the search for water came first. He watched as Lieutenant. Anderson led the way, they had been following what looks like a game trail. So they decided that if it's a game trail, it must lead to water. Travis wasn't the only one tired, his boss Miss Sean Kinsley, field reporter for a late night CNN news show, was complaining at just about everything. Travis laughed at her as her high heels caused her to trip and fall for the 5th time in 10 minutes. At that Lieutenant Anderson walked toward her and grabbed her shoes. He noticed that Gucci made them, too bad he thought as he snapped the heel off of on shoe, then the other. He calmly handed the shoes back to her and said, "This will help."  
  
She looked like her best friend had died and she was about To say something when Lieutenant. Anderson cut her off.  
  
"And before you go yelling at the top of your lungs, I promise as an officer and a gentleman that I will buy you a new pair of shoes, Deal?"  
  
She looked at him, then the shoes, She smiled slightly and nodded yes. After all what woman in her right mind, would pass up a new pair of shoe's especially Gucci's. She put the shoes on her feet, got up, dusted herself off, and said she was ready.  
  
They walked for about 5 minutes more when the trail split into 3 separate smaller trails. They discussed there options. Travis suggested splitting up; saying it would actually save time rather than all three going on the same trail. They all agreed after a little urging to Miss Kinsley, that it would be the best way to go. Lieutenant Anderson decided that each of them would walk for 20 minutes then head back, and wait on the others. If nobody returned after 15 minutes of waiting, the others would go down their trail looking for them. Lieutenant Anderson took the left trail, Sean took the center and Travis took the right one, smiling as he walked down the trail patting his shirt pocket.  
  
Sen. Justin Cummings looked out at the ocean, everything looked normal, but something was bugging him. Just how did Lieutenant Watson land the Greyhound? That was baffling him. The Lieutenant Was still unconscious and wasn't talking. He turned back towards where everyone had been placing his or her firewood. He watched as his aids discussed on how to build a signal fire. The Senator laughed at the two as they bickered at each other like a bunch of cackling hens. Finally the Senator got tired of the 2 bickering and put his survival training he had in the Navy to work. He showed them how to arrange the taller pieces into a teepee and placed the smaller twigs, branches and brush underneath, before long they had a pile of brush 8 ft high and 6 ft around. Not bad for a US Senator and two 18 year old twits. He was quite proud of what they had done, and couldn't wait to show the CAG. He glanced at his watched, they have been gone for about 45 minutes, the sun was stifling hot, they needed water and soon. He grabbed the two Aids and motioned them to the plane, where there was shade. He sat down on the planes steps and looked toward the jungle praying that they would find water.  
  
The game trail emerged from nowhere and commander Michels group had been following it for about 15 minutes. They had just stopped for a breather a few minutes back They took turns sipping the precious water, savoring each precious drop. Lieutenant Harris look up at what lay ahead of them. No one knew for sure but one thing was, if anything this game trail should lead to water. She glance up at the mountain, strange she thought the closer they got to its base the more it resemble a pyramid, she cast a glance at CAG he too was staring at the mountain. His hands was holding that strange necklace his parents had given him. When ever he rubbed that thing, weird stuff happen. "Time to go!" The CAG shouted The three of them stood up and continued up the trail.  
  
"Damn, Damn, and Double damn!" cried Sean Kinsley She had tripped and had fallen again. She picked herself off the ground and paused for a second. She was tired, hungry and thirsty, and was ready to get off this hellhole. She glanced at her watch and noticed the time. She had about 15 minutes before she had to head back and meet the others. She glanced up the trail and made a promise to herself. When she got back to Atlanta, she would have a few choice words with her boss. John A. Pothos was going to get the chewing of his life. She started walking up the trail not really paying attention to where she was going when she stumbled and fell again. Cursing out loud she sat there and started to cry. After a few minutes of feeling sorry for herself, and hand appeared in front of her face. She looked up and Saw Lieutenant. Anderson smiling at her. She took his hand and pulled herself up. "Thanks" she said sheepishly. She eyes looking down towards the ground. Lieutenant Arnold "Arn" Anderson looked at the news lady, even though her shoulder length blond hair was matted she still looked very much like a lady. "No problem, Miss Kin..." He started, but she cut him off with her hand. "Please, Lieutenant. Call me Sean" He smiled at her again and suggested she call him by his nick name, Arn. She looked at him. He was 6 ft tall had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Not bad looking not at all. She nodded in agreement and ask why his nickname was Arn He smiled that big grin of his and explained to her that when he was a newbie on the Stennis, he hadn't been giving a nickname yet. For some guys it's real easy. If a guys last name ended let's say smith. His nickname might be "snuffy". For others it might be their personality or some stupid thing they do. His was the latter. He explained that while out on liberty, he and a few friends, got a little toasted. Unknown to them, there was a wrestling match in Norfolk and some of the wrestlers were at the bar as well including Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. So an overly drunk ensign Anderson noticed the two and started ragging them about wrestling being fake. The pair were not overly enjoyed by him and tried to ignore him. But ensign Anderson was having none of it. He took his drink and poured it on the enforcer's lap. Mr. Arn Anderson got red as a beet, and placed a well aimed punch on Ensign Anderson's chin. Then all hell broke out wrestlers and sailors were having it out, with the wrestlers getting the better of the sailors. Ric flair had one poor soul in the figure 4 leg lock and the boy was crying and asking for his mama. And another had just body slammed another through a table. Somebody yelled cops and everybody scrammed. With Mr. flair and Mr. Anderson picking up and unconscious ensign Anderson, they took him to their hotel room. There they stripped him and placed shaving cream, shampoo some honey from room service, all over his body. They then hailed a cab and dumped him in the back seat. They gave the cabby specific instructions to take him to the nearest naval base and deposit him at the front gate with a sign attached to his genitals I HEREBY DECREE THAT WRESTLING IS REAL AND I GOT MY BUTT HANDED TO ME BY THE ENFORCER ARN ANDERSON. She laughed at the thought of him naked with a sign hanging from his....... she blushed at the thought of it. "So Arn." She began "Tell me what is Commander Michael's nick?' "It's Apollo" "The roman god of war? But why that name? "It suits him" Lieutenant Anderson paused for a moment and continued. " his parents were archeologist's specializing in early Greek and Egyptian mythologies. They were constantly in Greece and Egypt exploring, digging and doing things that archeologist do. Sean listen as Lieutenant Anderson told his story. He continued "His parents were always taking him on their expeditions. From Athens to Cairo and everywhere in between. They even managed to do some work in Iraq looking for Babel. "So" she started "What does this have to do with him having the nick Apollo?' Lieutenant Anderson turned and looked up the trail and motioned for her to follow. After a few moments of walking he continued "His parents found a strange artifact in Iraq. They found a silver amulet with a raised diamond in its center. As in diamond I mean like the diamond you would find in a pack of playing cards. It also had an inscription on the back "What did it say? "asked Sean "I'm getting do that." He paused and turned to look in her eyes. "They had spent most of the night trying to decipher the inscriptions. Their son of all people picked up the amulet studied it for a second and told his parents it was Sumerian the earliest known language. it was ancient when the pyramids Were built Lieutenant He then proceeded to translate the inscription it read? To Apollo my son. May the lords bless you. Go forth and remember our people. Adam." Sean stood there with her mouth open in disbelief. "Com'on now, Apollo the god of war was a son of Adam and Eve, that's kinda hard to believe. Arn looked at Sean and shrugged his shoulders "you know what else is strange about this story?' "No what?' "Commander Michael's parents names were Adam and Eve!" Sean looked at Arn and looked into his eyes. He was telling the truth. His eyes did not waver they remained locked onto hers. "Adam and eve, eh? She said "why didn't they name him Cain or Able?" "Because he is the 4th boy in the family. Cain, Able and Seth were already taken. They named him Jason after the Greek legend of Jason and the argonauts." She stopped and grabbed him by the arm and asked him how he knew so much about Commander Michels. Lieutenant Arn Anderson smiled and simply said, "why Sean didn't you know, me and Apollo are cousins." Sean looked at him for a second and asked him how Apollo got the nick. He paused for a second to think about the right response and said "About 20 years ago when I found out about the amulet, I started calling him Apollo. It just kinda stuck. When he was in flight school I would write him letters addressed to Apollo Michael's. When his instructors at flight school found out about this they gave him hell, pretty soon everyone started calling him Apollo." "How does he feel about it?" She asked Arn was about to answer her question when he heard it. "Wha.." Sean began only to be cut off by Arn. He held up his finger to his mouth motioning for her to be silent. He strained his ears, there he heard it, the distinct sound of running water. "Water!" He said excitedly "Where?" Asked Sean "Just up the trail, I can here the water, sounds like a stream of some sorts. They started back up the trail, almost at a run. The sound of running water growing louder. "I can hear it Arn!" Sean said as they ran into the clearing. The smell of the water caused them to salivate and they looked around for its source. Sean saw it first. A small stream was coming out of the mountain, it collected into a small pool where it disappeared back into the mountain. They gathered at the pool as Arn cupped his hands and dipped them into the water. The water was cool and very clear. He took a tentative sip. "Wow!" He said in excitement "This water tastes sweet and man is it cool. Just what the doctor ordered!" Sean dipped her hands in also and tasted for herself. He was right, this water beat any bottled water she ever had. They greedily drank their fill of the sweet water, savoring every drop. When they had finished they looked at each other and smiled a look of mischief crossed Sean's face. She threw her heel less shoes off, grabbed for the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head. Before Arn could react, she dove head first into the water. He couldn't believe his eyes. This fair maiden had just stripped in front of him and was now skinny dipping in front of him. Sean swam around a bit and splashed some water towards Arn. He backed away as the water got too close. "Com'on in Arn! Shouted Sean "the water feels great" Arn felt uneasy. He looked at Sean her beauty magnified by the water. He looked at his watch. They had to be heading out soon. He looked back at her. She was doing the backstroke. Man what the heck he thought. He made record time stripping down to his skivvies and jumped into the water. The coolness of the water sent him briefly into shock, but it felt good. He swam towards her and splashed water in her face. She retaliated in return. They swam and splashed water at each other. They felt like two teen-age kids fooling around for the first time. Their horse playing continued for a few more minutes, when suddenly they wound up face to face. Their eyes met, hearts pounding as one. It wasn't clear who made the first move but their lips touched, sending sparks of electricity through their bodies. The kiss seemed to last forever, but in reality lasted only a few seconds. As they broke the kiss, their eyes never breaking contact, they left the pool hand in hand. No words were spoke, for none was needed. For love has found two new victims  
  
The path seemed endless, it continued on winding through the forest. . Lieutenant Rachel "bat girl" Harris looked at her friend, Apollo as he continued on. He hadn't spoken a word since their last break. She spent most of the last 15 minutes speaking to the ditzy collage aid of senator Cummings. They talked about everything from boys to politics. The girl was smart in some things but just plain stupid in others. She reached for one of her few remaining cigars, then thought better of it. She didn't want miss Polly pure pants to lecture her on the evils of smoking. She glanced up at the CAG. He had moved ahead of them and had stopped, waiting for her and miss congeniality to catch up. His hand still caressing the amulet. "Hurry up Bat girl" he said "Cool your afterburners Apollo. Your walking at a pace where us short legged people can't possible keep up.. Besides what's your hurry?" "My hurry is we need to find water and soon!' "I know that, but if we keep up at this pace we'll be too pooped to get back to the others." "Sorry Bat girl, but something don't feel right." He said while looking back up the trail. Batgirl looked at him and shook his head. That damn amulet. It's always had a special hold on him." what do you mean don't feel right? Jesus H. Christ, Apollo just what the #### do you mean?" Jason looked straight-ahead ignoring Batgirl. Something just didn't feel right. No he thought, not just something but everything about this island made the hairs on the back of his head stand on end. And to top it all off the amulet his parents had given him felt warm like it was coming alive. He couldn't explain it, he never could, but something was going to happen and soon. It always did when he felt this way. "Sorry Bat girl" his eyes looking down the trail. He turned toward her and continued "but your right, lets slow the pace down and conserve our energy." "Excuse me." Both Jason and Rachel turned toward Miss congeniality, with a look of what do you want across their faces. "Yes, Miss..." Jason trailed off because he had forgotten the young ladies name. "Christi, Christi Mcduffy, but anyway that doesn't matter. Do you hear that?" "Hear what" asked Bat girl "It sounds like people laughing and carrying on!" Everyone stood silent as they listen for a moment. All was quiet, but then suddenly then is was. As shout of joy, plus the sound of water splashing. "Water" shouted Christi Jason agreed with her water yes but what or who was making all of that noise. "I know that voice, it's Sean!" Exclaimed Christi. Jason listen and sure enough it was Miss Kinsley, followed by his cousin Kevin." "Com'on lets go" shouted Jason as he started up the trail. The tree of the hurried up the trail. The shouting have stopped as they continued on. A few minutes later the trail opened up into the most beautiful scene. A vision of an open glen surrounded by a mountain, a stream and an pool. Also there standing in the middle of it all was two lover in a embrace. "Arn" shouted Jason "Just what in the hell are you doing?' Arn quickly turned his head towards the sudden voice and saw his cousin moving towards him with a very disgusting look on her face. He was not happy. "Eh.. Hi CAG. Look we found water." "Don't hi me Lieutenant. Just what in the hell are you doing with miss Kinsley there?" Jason looked at his cousin. His uniform was damp as well as his hair. He glanced and miss Kinsley, her hair and clothes were the same "Com'on CAG, we were just happy to find water and kinda got carried away nothing happen, honest" explained Arn Jason looked at Arn and then Sean. He put two and two together and asked Sean "This true Miss Kinsley?' Sean moved a wisp of wet blond hair out of her eyes and nodded yes. "Yes Apollo it's true. We just went a little overboard when we found the water. Nothing happen nothing at all." Jason was taken aback a little when she called by his nick Apollo. He looked at her and asked Sean if Arn told her about him. She looked down at the ground and nodded yes. "Arn." He said "Come on Apollo. I didn't mean it. She just wanted to know what your nick was. I told her some of it but not everything, honest" Jason shook his head and headed towards the pool. He knelt down and reached his hand into the water. It was cool. He asked how the water tasted and Arn replied "cool, and sweet. Very refreshing." Jason cupped his hands and brought the water up to his nose. No odor that was a good sign. He took a sip, man, Arn was right the water did taste sweet. "Oh one more thing Arn!" "What's that CAG?" "Where in blue blazes is that cameraman at? Arn slammed the palm of his hand against his fore head "Damn CAG, we took different trails. We forgot all about him. We was suppose to meet up..." Arn checked his watch '10 minutes ago." "Damn it Arn where has your head been up your ass? Or should I say miss Kinsley's!" "Apollo thetas enough" interjected Batgirl "Damn it Bat girl. Arn's head is somewhere else besides his duty!' Explained Apollo "You have a lot of room to talk Apollo. Your head's been somewhere else too. Ever since we got on this rock you have been off in never, never land. And it's sure as hell hasn't been thinking about a woman either. So what gives Apollo?" Jason knew he deserved the thrashing Batgirl was giving him. She was right he had been off in the wild blue yonder. But it didn't explain Arn's actions "OK I'm sorry your right. I haven't been myself since we got here. Miss Kinsley I deeply apologize if I offended you. You too Miss Mcduffy." Both Sean and Christi nodded in approvement he then turned his attentions to his cousin. "Arn look.." Began Jason but Arn cut him off No prob. sir. But don't worry by now he should be where the trail splits, waiting for us to return. If we head back down the trail me and Sean came from, we should meet up with him." Arn's voice was very military. He only got that way when he was pissed and couldn't do anything about it. Jason was about to apologize again when Travis came walking into the clearing. "Cool you guys found water, but what's with the funky statue?" Everyone looked at him dumbfounded. Jason walked up to him and offered him the water bag. Travis accepted it and drank his fill and handed it back to Jason. "So Travis what statue are you talking about?" Asked Jason. Travis looked at everyone. They had the strangest look on their faces like they couldn't see it. He pointed it out to everyone and said. "That one." Everyone turned towards the direction at which Travis was pointing. At first the couldn't see it but Sean saw it first and fainted. Batgirl then saw it and mumbled something about sweet Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Everyone else stood silent except Jason. He looked at the statue. Impossible he thought, but here it was. He then saw something else about the statue. It was shadowed by the mountain only the mountain wasn't a mountain. It was a pyramid. Jason was sure of it. But it wasn't the pyramid that surprised Jason. For it had a identical brother in Egypt. Only this Spynx had a face with a complete nose. Its paws surrounded the pool. They were hidden by a growth of trees. its face also was partially covered by trees. Jason looked at the Spynx. It was identical in every way to the one at Gaza. But it wasn't in such bad shape. There was hardly any erosion at all. Its face having the same blankness expression as its brother, it too was facing east always there to greet the morning sunrise. how could they have missed it. It didn't make since. He stepped back to get a better look. He looked closer and realized it wasn't a full Spynx. Only its face and paws were visible. It was looked like the Spynx was a elaborate entrance way into the pyramid. "Jason is that what I think it is?" Asked Arn almost mumbling it. "Yes, I do believe it is.  
  
By the time night fell on the island the group had rejoin the others at the greyhound. They told everyone about the discovery of the Spynx. Everyone was amazed by the story, even Senator Cummings. Jason had noticed that Lieutenant. "Doc Watson had regained consciousness. He was unable to explained what happen. "I dunno CAG, the last thing I remember is a bunch of lights flying around us and a ear piercing sound. The next thing I knew was waking up here. Sorry CAG I don't know How the plane landed" "Thanks any way Doc, let me know if you remember anything." "Will do CAG" Jason walked over towards Batgirl. She was sitting on a log beside Miss Kinsley and his cousin, Arn. He listen as Arn was tell one of his many tall tales. ".. And me and the CAG ran as fast as we could. The group of hoodlums standing there with egg on their face." Everyone laughed at the tale even Jason. He had forgotten about the incident. "Hi CAG," said Arn "I was telling them About our little trip to St. Thomas. What was the name of that girl, Sandra, sherry, what was it?" "Her name was Sheba." "Oh yeah Sheba, what a lady, what ever happen to her, you never told me." "We still talk and write letters. Believe it or not she joined the Navy. She said I inspired her, Believe it our not she wants to fly jets." "Cool, If my memory serves me right, you was a little sweet on her wasn't ya." "Yeah Apollo." Said Bat girl "For about 3 months straight, you couldn't stop talking about her, what happen did ya do a bolter and get waved off." "Ha, Ha, very funny you two, for your information we never got that close, she's engaged to some guy named Richard." "awwww" said Arn and Batgirl at the same time. "Poor little ol Apollo, lost the love of his life." Said Bat girl in a pouty tone. "That's enough Bat girl, or do I have to tell everyone about Perth?" "You wouldn't?" Exclaimed Batgirl. She looked at CAG's face and knew the answer "You would wouldn't you?" Jason nodded his head yes and unwrapped the snickers bar he got from the greyhound. He took a couple of bites. The knot in his stomach easing up some. The looked up at the stars. They were very bright. He saw Orion's belt and wondered. He was always fascinated by space. His life long dream was to fly in the stars, even if it was only in a shuttle. He looked toward the surf and saw Senator Cummings coming. His face showed anger off smoked and Jason prepared himself for and onslaught. "CAG!" Bellowed Sen. Cummings. "Just how do you plan to get us off the god forsaken rock!" Jason took another bite of his candy bar and ignored the Senator for a moment. He looked at Bat girl then towards /Arn and Miss Kinsley. He swallowed and took another bite. "CAG I asked you a question. What are your plans?" Said Sen. Cummings this time his face got a shade redder Jason looked at the pain in the Ass. God, how he hated politicians, especially liberals. They think the world revolved them. He finished his candy bar and put the wrapper in his pocket. He stood up and looked the senator in the eye having to tilt his head down. "Listen Fuzzy, as of right now the best thing we can do is be patient. It's not if we get off this island, but when." "Don't call me Fuzzy CAG, I am a US senator and you should show me more respect." "Well excuse me Senator." Jason said with sarcasm in his voice. "I didn't know we was being formal. I was trying to get you to loosen up. You're going to have coronary before your 40." "I'm not here to be loosen up CAG, Unlike you I try to live up to my responsibilities. Typical navy, believing they can do what they what." Sen. Cummings got up into Jason's face. "What are you going to do CAG, You have no plans for trying to rescue us, do you. Your Lost at what to do. Why don't you go up to that pyramid you found and try not to be like your father. Yeah, I know, the guy crawled into a bottle and died when you mother passed." Jason promptly punched him in the nose. How dare he bring up his father. The son of a bitch didn't have a heart, how could he after that remark. "Listen here you jackass, for your information, I believe that pyramid may lead to our salvation. First thing in the morning, I had planned on exploring it, maybe find a way inside. There has to be a reason why we are here, and by god I mean to find out. That little bump I gave you on the nose is a reminder what will happen to you if you ever bring up my father again. He was a good man, A part of him died along with my mother. He just hurried to meet her that's all." At that Jason turned towards everyone else. "I believe it time to hit the rack. I suggest everyone get a good night sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." At that he turned and left. By this tine senator Cummings had gotten to his feet, rubbing his nose.. A trickle of blood dripping from his nostril. He looked at his hand and saw the blood. "That Asshole, how there he hit me. You all saw it he struck a US senator. When we get back I'll have his ass handed to him." "Sorry Fuzzy, I didn't see a thing." explained Bat girl "Whaa...what about you?" Pointing towards Arn "Nope, sorry sir, I was turned the other way, I think you tripped." "Bullshit, typical navy covering each others ass, well at least Miss Kinsley will testify" "Umm senator, I hate to tell you this, but I didn't see anything either, I believe some sand got in my eye." They others got up and started to leave Sean leaned into the senators ear and said "Fuzzy if I was you I would try to find something cold for that nose, if not use this." Sean reached into her pocketbook and handed the senator a compact. "If anything you can cover up the bruising, you got to be more careful Senator, I believe Arn was right, you did trip." He was dreaming that he was flying. He dreamed he was flying his tomcat. He was doing all sorts of stunts with it, from barrel rolls to high g inverted turns. He was having a blast. When suddenly his radar lit up like a Christmas tree, a MIG-29 fulcrum by the looks of it.  
  
He did a high-speed bank to draw the fulcrum into battle. As the fulcrum passed he noticed it was carrying 4 R-27 medium range air to air missiles. He knew that the fulcrum could out fly him, almost. He had a slightly higher ceiling and the fulcrum could out turn him. He glanced at his weapons load and groaned he had just 3 AIM-9 sidewinders, and only one AIM- 7 sparrow missile. He checked his guns and noticed he had a full load. He smiled and engaged the enemy.  
  
He asked Batgirl if the fulcrum was following. When she didn't answer, he realized he was all alone. He nodded as he took the tomcat into a steep vertical climb. The navy had train him to fight without a RIO just in case of emergencies. He glanced to his right and saw the Fulcrum had followed him into the climb. He eased the nose down and slammed the stick to the right, the tomcat's wings vibrating hard as the plane did a tight circle, just as he came out of the turn, warning bells went off, the MIG had snapped off one of its missiles, and it was gaining.  
  
He punched the chaff button and the tomcat spewed chaff. The chaff was strips of aluminum foil, it was suppose to confuse a radar guided missile, and only this missile didn't go for it. He punched more chaff and hit the afterburner. The tomcat started to pull away from the missile, when the fulcrum launched another one. Damn he thought how he was going to get out of this one. He pulled the stick back and to the left hoping the sudden course change would confuse the first missile, the missile couldn't keep up with the abrupt turn and as quickly it became a threat, it became harmless. He then turned his attention to the second one it was gaining rapidly. He punched some more chaff and some flares. The red-hot magnesium flares burned hotter than the sun. The combination of the two caused the second missile to miss. He then turned his attention back to his opponent. The MIG's pilot had made a mistake. He assumed that two missiles would finish Jason off. But he wasn't called the god of war for nothing. He snapped off 2 of his precious sidewinders just to keep the pilot busy while he got in position to finish him off.  
  
He eased the tomcat into a slight turn and he found himself into a position to fire. The pilot had managed to evade the missiles also. The MIG was doing it's best to evade Jason, but he was having none of it, for every move the MIG did, Jason had a counter move, the two juked and twisted in the sky. The MIG's pilot was good very good but Jason was a little better. He was not close enough for his guns so he selected his medium range sparrow missile. It was radar guided and quickly closed the distance between the two planes.  
  
The MIG punched chaff and flares, but the sparrow was having none of it. As it closed in on the MIG, the MIG tried several evasive maneuvers. The Sparrow gaining ground, when the MIG punched some more chaff the sparrow was fooled this time and exploded about 20 feet from the MIG.  
  
"Damn It" shouted Jason he pushed the Tomcat to its max; he passed mach 2 as the MIG slowly was pulling away from him. He pushed the tomcat, hard. Its engines screaming under the pressure. He glanced at his fuel load and noticed he needed fuel soon. As he looked up he noticed the fulcrum was trailing smoke, good he thought maybe the sparrow did some damage after all.  
  
The tomcat started to gain on the crippled MIG, Jason noticed he was too close for his last remaining sidewinder and switched to guns. The MIG was moving back and forth, making it hard for Jason to line up his shot. He let off a few rounds as the MIG slowly drifted into his sights. The depleted uranium rounds found their mark, stitching their way up the MIGS fuselage.  
  
More black smoke rolled out of the port engine, as Jason poured more bullets into the aircraft. The MIG shuddered as the port engine failed. Jason cut back his speed and watched the MIG slowly die.  
  
He was waiting for the pilot to eject; he still had plenty of time. But the pilot refused to bail. He just kept on fly, its right engine now starting to smoke. He decided to contact the pilot using the guard frequency.  
  
The Guard frequency was used for ships and planes to talk to each other, in cases of emergencies. Jason quickly switched the frequency; he keyed his mike and asked what he wanted.  
  
"Ahoy to the Fulcrum, this is Commander Jason Michels, United States Navy. May I ask your condition?"  
  
The radio remained silent, Jason tried again. The pilot refused to answer; maybe his radio was shot up who knows. Jason started to ease the tomcat up when the radio came alive.  
  
"You bested me today human, but tomorrow, all of mankind will feel my rage."  
  
The voice was cold and metallic sounding; it sent shivers up his spine. What type of pilot was he? He wondered.  
  
"To the MIG Pilot, please identify yourself."  
  
"Human, I am your enemy, finish me off, or I will kill you."  
  
"Your in no position to talk pilot, your plane is burning and you need to eject."  
  
"Fear not for me human, fear for you, the day has come for mankind to die."  
  
Jason was puzzled, what in the devil was this pilot talking about. Time for mankind to die, and was he referring him as human. Things didn't make since.  
  
"I ask again pilot, eject or you will die, if you don't eject I will consider you still hostile and will destroy you."  
  
As Jason was talking, readying his last sidewinder, and got a tone lock, now the pilot knew he was serious. Still the pilot didn't eject.  
  
"This is your last warning eject or die."  
  
"Human it is you who as going to die"  
  
Jason had just about enough of this clown, he pressed the firing stud and the tomcat lurched as it left the rail. As the sidewinder flew, Jason couldn't help but wonder who the MIG's pilot was. He watched as the sidewinder gained on the MIG, The pilot didn't even try to evade, just before the Missile impacted, Jason's radio came to life. The pilot's cold metallic voice sounding even more deadly.  
  
"Human, your life is now at an end."  
  
Jason wondered what the pilot was talking about when all of a sudden alarms went off and he had a missile warning  
  
"####" he yelled. Another MIG had managed to sneak in behind him. Just before he died, Jason watched as his sidewinder killed the MIG. "Good" he thought, at least he got one of them. Just before the missile impacted, his radio came to life.  
  
"See human, I was right you are about to die."  
  
Jason screamed as the missile impacted the tomcat, his last thought was of Rachel. She was telling him to wake up. Wake up why he would want to wake up.  
  
"Jason, wake up, you're having a nightmare." She said  
  
The plane shuddered as it died, his body shaking back and forth. He closed his eyes waiting for the plane to explode. Only it didn't he hearted the sweet gentle voice of bat girl and the crashing of waves.  
  
"CAG if you don't wake up I'm going to slug ya, now wake up."  
  
He opened his eyes and saw her face, she was beautiful as always, except for the damn cigar she had in her mouth. He looked and noticed the sun was starting to get up. A few people was milling around. Most of the others were asleep. Let them sleep he thought. There was a long day ahead and these people needed all of their strength.  
  
"Bat girl can I ask a favor of you?"  
  
"Sure CAG what can I do you for?"  
  
"Can I have one of those damn cigars, I'm going to need it after that dream."  
  
Batgirl wondered at was on the CAG's mind. That dream must have really scared him. She reached into one of the many pockets in her flight suit and pulled out a stogie. She didn't have many left. But if the CAG asked for a smoke, then by god she will get on. She bit off one end and lighted it for him after the coals were bright red did she hand it over to him  
  
"Thanks could never get the hang of lighting those things."  
  
"No problem. If you don't mind what were you dreaming about."  
  
Jason exhaled some smoke. He looked at his best friend and remembered that she could get anything out of him, if she tried hard enough. But this didn't much trodden on her part."  
  
"You remember that little incident that never happened?' he asked  
  
"How could I forget it isn't everyday you end up in a dogfight with a MIG- 29."  
  
'what dogfight and when did the navy ever fight a MIG-29?" came a voice from behind them they turned and Sean was approaching with Arn.  
  
"Can't tell you, its top secret."  
  
"But I can." said another voice. Every one turned towards the voice and watched as Sen. Cummings crawled out from under the plane , where he had been sleeping.  
  
How much did you hear Fuzzy" ask Jason  
  
"Enough to know it scared you." You know about the incident question bat girl?"  
  
"Yeah I know about it, you got to remember I'm on the arm forces security committee, I knew about it before you landed on the Stennis."  
  
"You can't say anything Senator, its top secret."  
  
"Top secret my ASS, it should have been told. The world should have known that Iraq had Russian pilots fighting for them.  
  
"Let me get this straight, we're talking about operation Iraqi freedom right?" asked Sean the reporter instincts kicking in  
  
Jason nodded  
  
"Since when did the Russians start fighting Iraq's battles for them?. And why wasn't the press told."  
  
Jason decided to tell her after all it didn't look like they were getting off this island for a long time.  
  
"You remember how the Russians, the French along with the Germans made such a big stink over the war?"  
  
Sean nodded her head  
  
"Well as it turned out all three parties had people there fighting for the Iraqis. The Germans and the French just had support troops there, not many mind you about 50 totals for both countries, but the Russians had Pilots there along with brand new MIG 29s, straight off the production line."  
  
"How could this be possible, the Iraqi government then couldn't get new airplanes, especially MIG 29s." questioned Sean  
  
It turned out the pilots there along with their ground crew were hard line communists. They wanted the fight the US and to hell with the world." Said Jason  
  
"So they defected in a sense to Iraq making them Iraqis?"  
  
Jason nodded his head and continued.  
  
"But why wasn't it reported?"  
  
Senator Cummins interrupted Jason and finished the story.  
  
"Because my dear, what would be the world's reaction to such news, that the French, Germans and Russians had troops and fighter planes there. It was quickly swept under the carpet. So to speak. If it had been reported we might have been facing the end of the world. The parties involved, mainly the Russians would deny it."  
  
"But what happened to everyone?"  
  
"Dead, every one of them, they went out with a bang so to speak, only one managed to get airborne and Commander Michel's here managed to shoot him down."  
  
"Sean looked at Jason his eyes were closed, it looked like he was remembering it  
  
"But there was a problem, you see the commander here had the chance to be the first ace since the Vietnam War. Since it officially never happen he can't be called an ace, and it burns him up, doesn't it commander."  
  
Jason was about ready to punch the senator in the nose again and thought better of it. He was right of course. He couldn't officially be called an ace, but in his heart he knew he was. So did about 50 other people and that was find by him.  
  
"Listen senator, I'm not going to argue with you. I know I'm an Ace and so does a few other people. Including my best friend. I don't need the world to tell me I'm an ace. So back off before you trip again."  
  
Senator Cummings quickly touched his now swollen and tender nose. He mumbled something and walked off to the trees.  
  
Jason called for everyone to gather around. He wanted to make sure no one had wandered off during the night. As everyone gathered, they waited for Senator Cummings to return. After a few minutes the senator returned from the trees. As he approached Jason began.  
  
"As you all know a major discovery was made yesterday. A pyramid was found and I intend to explore the area today and see if we can find a way in. It's my understanding that the pyramid might hold a clue to why we are here."  
  
Jason looked at everyone's haggard but attentive faces. It could have been worse, if it weren't for Travis' gedunk stash, these people might be starving. But the stash couldn't feed 10 people forever.  
  
(Author's note: Gedunk is a navy term for junk food.)  
  
"Now I'm splitting everyone up into 2 teams, one will explore the pyramid area looking for a way in, the other will look for food. Now Lieutenant Harris, Senator Cummings, Lieutenant. Anderson, Sean and Travis will accompany me to the pyramid. The rest of you will be with Lieutenant. Watson. He's had survival training and will be able to help you find food. Does anyone have any question?"  
  
"Yeah, I have a question." Asked Senator Cummings "who died and made you boss?"  
  
Jason felt a headache coming on; this was going to be a long day he could tell it.  
  
"With all due respect Senator, you are currently under navy protection. Since I am the senior Naval officer, it falls to me to lead, if you have a problem with My assignments then let me know. I'll be glad to change it to your liking."  
  
"No Commander, the assignment is find, but since I represent the federal government, May I suggest you confer with me when a vital decision is to be made. I might have a helpful suggestion or two."  
  
Jason couldn't believe his ears, was the senator changing his ways, wanting to be helpful instead of disruptive.  
  
"Of course senator you are right, we should discuss vital decisions together. But if you don't mind maybe later, we have more important things to do."  
  
The Senator said he had no problems with it. Jason asked if there were any more questions, nobody had any. He suggested they all start at the pyramid so everyone can see it. They would meet back at the plane at 1200 hrs and go from there. Everyone nodded in agreement and so they were walking up the trail unsure of what their fates would be. The trip to the pyramid had been uneventful. Those who hadn't seen it was in awe, even senator Cummings was at a loss of words. The early morning sun reflected off the Spynx's face. Jason was amazed by the lack of erosion on the Spynx. It was almost like the Spynx was brand new, just finished yesterday. After everyone had had time to see everything, Lieutenant. Watson took his team and left.  
  
Everyone had gathered around and Jason filled everyone on what to look for. He told everyone that they should look for any kind of written language, hopefully hieroglyphics. They should also look for imperfections in the structure itself. Indention's or out of place rocks might lead to and entrance. He asked that everybody should split up into teams of two. He and Batgirl teamed up, Lieutenant. Anderson and Miss Kinsley were a team and Travis and the senator made the final team.  
  
Before he left the greyhound Jason had managed to find a machete in the greyhound's survival gear. How it got there he had no clue. He was going to use it to cut down the brush that surrounded the Spynx, especially in between the paws. He went to work swinging the machete. It wasn't hard the weeds just seem to fall with each stroke. Batgirl stood behind him and moved the fallen brush out of their way. Within 15 minutes Jason was within 5 ft of the base of the Spynx.  
  
He paused to wipe the sweat form his brow. The sun was starting to warm and he knew they were in for a hot day. He went back to work. The machete was cutting thought the weeds like a hot knife through butter. He was about finished when the machete struck stone. He smiles just as he thought. There was a placard of some kind, just like its brother in Egypt.  
  
He motioned for Batgirl to help him. Using their hands the cleared the brush from around the placard. It was about 4 ft high, 2 ft wide and 1 ft thick. It was made of highly polished black granite. The sun was reflecting off its highly polished surface. Again there was no erosion present. No even a speck of dirt rested on the polished surface.  
  
For a minute Jason thought there was no inscription, the surface was smooth to the touch. Upon closer examination Jason realized he was wrong. There was an inscription there only it wasn't carved. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. He knew the language it was Sumerian that much he knew. But the lettering was beneath surface of the stone. It was almost like it was under glass somehow. He put it out of his mind it wasn't how it was written on stone it was what the message said. He reread it again. Then again to make sure he got it right. "Unbelievable", that's all he could say.  
  
"What's it say Apollo?" asked Batgirl. She had come up beside him as he was shaking his head.  
  
"You won't believe me if I told you."  
  
Bat girl was puzzled, the writing was unreadable to her, but the again the CAG always amazed her.  
  
"You can read this chicken scratch?"  
  
Jason shook his head yes. Then added "It's called Sumerian, it was ancient when the pyramids were built Lieutenant"  
  
"Wow" was all Batgirl could muster.  
  
Jason continued to shake his head in disbelief. But what had he done to deserve this. It had to be some sort of cruel joke, had to be.  
  
"Well," began Batgirl "what does it say?"  
  
Jason turned to his friend; he couldn't keep a straight face.  
  
"Promise you won't laugh?"  
  
"Promise"  
  
Jason reread it again just to make sure. Yep it was true God did have a sense of humor. "Come on Jason what does it say?"  
  
"It says All newly arriving personal must report to the Officer of the day before entering the complex." Batgirl stood there with a blank expression on her face. The look on her face was priceless, if he only had a camera. "You're kidding right? Tell me your kidding." Said a confused Batgirl. "Wish I was Batgirl, unless I'm mistaken, we have a bigger mystery on our hands." Batgirl nodded and the two went to work clearing away more brush. After about 15 minutes of back breaking work the two took a breather. Both had stripped to their sweat soaked T-shirts, thank god both had wore khakis instead of their flight suits. It wasn't even 0800 and it had to be near 90. They heard a noise behind them and saw that Travis was running towards them "Commander we found something." Said a out of breath Travis. "Whoa there take it easy, just what did you fine?" "We found a doorway behind the waterfall." "What kind of doorway?" "A big one, maybe 15 ft high and 10 feet wide. Made of solid stone. Had all kinds of funny looking scratches. Like those." Travis said pointing to the stone Jason and Batgirl had found earlier. Jason nodded and ask Travis to lead the way. As they walked towards the waterfall, Jason noticed the area had changed again somewhat, he could now see more and more of the complex, temples were off to the right and he swore he saw a statue of Ra. As they headed towards the waterfall Jason was wondering if god had any more surprises for them. Jason wasn't a religious man, but he understood it enough to know that there was a god. They passed under the waterfall, the temperature was at least 20 degrees cooler. He watched as Batgirl shuddered under the temperature change. Travis was right the door was huge, Jason put it closer to 20 feet high. The width was about right. It was a double door, Jason could see a faint crack running down the middle. They were the last to arrive. The rest of the group had arrived and was talking to themselves about the door. Arn was trying to push it open, Jason laughed knowing the door wouldn't budge without a key. "Your wasting you time Arn." "I know CAG, but it's worth a shot." "Still your only asking for a bad back trying to push it open. It ain't opening unless you have a key or trigger some sort of release mechanism." Sean looked up at the inscriptions, then back at Commander Michael's. He knew something she thought. What it was he had no idea, but the report instincts kicked in. "Commander, what do you know." "About as much as you Sean, but as my cousin was kind enough to point out to you yesterday, my upbringing lets me know a little more than most. That's Sumerian, and if my hunch is right the answer to everything is behind this door." "How do we get in? I don't see a keyhole and those doors must weigh a few tons each." "I dunno Sean, but maybe we will get lucky." Just then Jason got a funny feeling, the necklace his parents had given him started to feel warm, maybe just maybe. "Quick everybody look for an indention of some sorts." "What kind of indention commander?" Asked Senator Cummings. You'll know it when you see it believe me. It might be as small as a dime or as big as a hand, now everybody look." Everyone went to the doors and started feeling with their hands, slowly at first feeling the doors surface. The search went on for about 5 minutes when Sean found it. "Commander I found something." Said an excited Sean. She had found the small indention along the base of the door. It had filled in with dirt. Jason came over and started to remove the dirt that had embedded itself in the indention. at once Jason, Batgirl and Arn let out a gasp. All three of them had seen that design before.  
  
"CAG, is that what I think it is?" Asked Arn "I believe so Arn, I believe it is." "What is it Commander, what do we need to do." Jason looked at the diamond shaped indention. Of course it all made sense to him now, his parents said he would someday understand, and today was that day. But what if they were wrong, no they couldn't be. his parents were rarely wrong, but just encase they were right." "Travis, you operate a television camera right." "Yeah, but its back at the plane." "Are the batteries charged up?" Yeah, that's the last thing I did before I left the hotel yesterday, I charged all 6 of them." "Good go get your camera, and the rest of you go fine everyone, If I'm right we all need to see this." Senator Cummings was about to say something when he saw Jason examine the indention. Something was up and the CAG wasn't telling, just yet anyway. The senator thought it was best to follow the CAG's lead for now, if he played his cards right he would get the last laugh on the CAG.  
  
It took the better part of an hour for everyone to get there. By that time Jason had searched every part of the doors surface. It still amazed him. How in blue blazes could it be. He shook his head and waited. Senator Cummings was the last to arrive. Jason looked at everyone, their eager faces looking to him for answers. He chose his words carefully and began. "I've gathered all of you here to try to explain to all of you what's going on. How many of you have heard the stories of the Bermuda triangle.?" Everyone either raised their hand or nodded. Just as Jason thought. He continued. "How many of you have heard about the lost city of Atlantis?" again everyone raised their hands. "I believe we might have found both. For those of you who don't know my parents were famed archeologists. And as I child I traveled with them on their countless adventures. I learned a lot in those days. I could read hieroglyphics by the age of 6. I know this sounds like I am bragging but it's true." Jason asked for any questions nobody had any so he continued. "What makes me believe we have found Atlantis is because of this inscription." Jason pointed to a line of scratches." It says that all that enter this place must bow before the gods of Atlantia. Now what make this interesting is that Atlantis could have meant Atlantia at one point in time." Sean way looking at the CAG. He was like a kid in a candy store. To say he was giddy was an understatement. "Commander, what's this got to do with our current situation. All of us have thought something like this was an explanation, how do you propose we get inside to prove your theory.' "Good question Sean, and it deserves a good answer. As some of you know my parents found something very special in the deserts of Iraq. It cost the lives of 3 Iraqis who were helping us. When Saddam found out what they had found he ordered us killed, luckily for me and my parents we made it out in time. He had our helpers murdered afterward" "Commander get on with it." Said Batgirl your right sorry everyone, I tend to ramble at time like this. What my parents found was this.' Jason held up the amulet. The sun glinting off its shiny surface. "My parents knew of its importance, now so do I." Jason knelt down and place the amulet into the indention. He gave a quarter turn to the right and nothing happened. Jason turned it back gave it another try, he asked for every one to push. Everyone put their backs into it, still the doors refused to budge. "Commander, now what?" Asked a red-faced senator Cummings. "You brought us here to tell us a bunch of tale tales. I should have known to listen to your stories. And that's what they are nothing but superstitious stories. I hope for everyone's sake you get your head on straight, if you don't then we might just..." CLICK Everyone's head turned at the sound "Shhhh' said Jason. He put his ear against the door. He heard the faint sound of stone rubbing against stone. It worked the amulet work. He listen as a final click sounded. He got up and brushed the dirt off his legs. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our future." Jason placed one finger on one of the doors and gave it a slight push, the door swung open effortlessly without a sound.  
  
There was no lights, darkness prevailed in the chamber. Jason fumbled around the sides to feel for torches of some kind Nope there wasn't any. He was about to suggest that somebody run back and fine a flashlight when he was blinded. "Damn it Travis, how many time do I have to tell you to let someone know when your turning that thing on." Sean's voiced echoed. "Sorry everybody, I forgot, it won't happen again." Everyone grumbled some said a few choice words under their breath. Soon everyone's vision was slowly coming back to them. "OK everybody lets look at our surroundings." The light from the camera illuminated the room. It was a barren room roughly 30 ft square. In the middle directly across from the double rooms was a corridor. Jason assigned positions to everybody. He would go first followed by Travis. After him was Batgirl. Arn then Sean followed her. Senator Cummings and his aids followed. Lieutenant Watson brought up the rear. The corridor was fairly narrow. Jason took his time his heart beating a mile a minute. He was at ease still something was nagging at him. What was it. Then it hit him. "Travis, point the light to the floor." "Why?" "Just curious, that's all." "OK you're the boss." Travis pointed the camera to the floor. Jason knelt and touched it. Strange he thought, no dust. Just what the hell was going one. He took a deep breath when he noticed something else. The air, it wasn't stale. Usually when you open up old chambers you would have stale air. This air had a sweet smell to it. Strange, he thought very strange. But then again everything about this place was strange. Senator Cummings was getting impatient and he let it be known "Commander are you quite though.?" "yes fuzzy, I'm through." Senator Cummings bellowed, "Don't call me Fuzzy." "awe is the big ol senator getting upset we're calling him Fuzzy?" said Batgirl in a childish voice Sean found it interesting that the senator got upset over being called fuzzy. curiosity got the better of her and she asked Arn why he was called Fuzzy? "Dunno Sean, he was on the Stennis before me, you have to ask the CAG or Batgirl." Sean made a mental note to ask Batgirl the information. she had a feeling that the Commander was going to be very busy in the near future. Jason motioned for everyone to move forward. the corridor seemed to go on forever. further and further it went into the pyramid. Jason called for a 5- minute break so everyone can rest. Sean asked Arn to switch with Batgirl so she could talk to her. after the switch she leaned into Batgirl's ear and asked. "Just why do you and the commander call the senator Fuzzy?" Batgirl chuckled "you don't know do you?" "No I don't, how about filling me in?" "Sure no problem. it all began about 6 years ago when I was a nugget." "a nugget?" "Yeah a nugget, you see a nugget is a new aviator or as in my case a RIO." "What's a RIO?" "boy you're defiantly a reporter, a RIO is short for Radar Intercept Officer. I sit in the back seat of a tomcat and tell the CAG where the ship or enemy is. I control the RADAR and Radio. I help point out targets and look out for bogies, you know what bogies are?" "yes, I'm not that dumb you know." "sorry didn't mean to imply anything." "no problem. I'm use to it. now as you were saying?" "oh yeah Fuzzy, well anyway like I said it began 6 years ago. he wasn't such a butt hole then. he was actually kinda cool. he was good, very good, so good in fact that me and him were in competition together to be the CAG's RIO. Well the CAG's idea of a good partner is to be able to keep up with him. he wants you to be able to do everything he does. you have to be smart on your feet, handle your liqueur and be a little rebellious. me and The senator spent a lot of time with Jason. we flew, ate and drank with him almost 24/7. he was constantly drilling us asking questions even when we was drunk." "what type of questions?" ask Sean "oh questions like, what's the top speed and ceiling of a MIG 23, or what's the range of a Chinese silkworm missile. he was constantly drilling us." Batgirl pulled one of her cigars out and lit it. "So as it happened all three of us was at this little bar in Portsmouth call the fabulous frontier. all three of us were drinking shots of tequila and draft beers." "ewww what a awful combination" "Tell me about it, my stomach still rumbles at the mention of that night. well any way after about the 10th round or was the 11th I can't remember, the senator over there ordered a fuzzy naval. for all of us. he said a change of drinks would do us good. well the drinks arrive and the senator grabbed it and drank it whole. it was too much for him, the combination of beer, tequila, and a sweet drink like a fuzzy navel was too much for him. he blew chunks right there on the spot. right on the topless waitress. ever since then we call him fuzzy" Sean laugh at the thought of the Senator being drunk. we would have loved to seen it. the Senator drunk and at a strip club to boot. but she couldn't understand why Rachel was there. "If you don't mind me asking a question, I can understand why The commander and the senator was there, but why were you there?" Batgirl shrugged her shoulder. "Oh no reason, other than they serve the coldest beer and make killer wings. the afterburner special is sure to hair on your chest." Sean just shook her head. here was a woman who didn't care about sexual harassment or anything like that. she was just one of the guys. Sean longed for that kind of respect. she would never enter a strip club. she envied her, very much so. she glanced over and saw that the commander had stood up. "looks like its time to go, " Sean pointed out Rachel checked her watch. "Yup, 5 minutes exactly." Hey, Lieutenant thanks for the conversation" "anytime Sean, but call me Batgirl, that's what everyone else calls me. "Batgirl huh, how did you get that Nick? let me guess you read comic books?" Batgirl laughed "oh Sean If you only knew" "Aww come on Batgirl how did you get your nick?" "later when there's nobody around, this kinda thing you got to keep personal. Batgirl but out her cigar and went back to her original position. Sean made a mental note later to talk more with Batgirl. she was a wealth of information. Plus it couldn't hurt to maybe make her a friend. "OK everybody, break times over, lets get moving" Said Jason in a commanding voice. there was a few muffled grumbles from the Senator. but he kept his voice low so The Commander couldn't hear it. It was obvious to Sean that the Senator was up to something, what it was She hadn't a clue. but she would keep her eyes and ears open. She liked these people. they were honest and hard working. Who cared if they were in the Military. She started to think she might just have to rethink her views on the military. The Commander made the order to move out. slowly they made their ways up the tunnel. Yep, she was differently going to have to change her ways. as they walked on she wondered how she would look in Navy Blue.  
* * * * * The next 45 minutes had been really challenging for everyone. they made so many turns it's was impossible to tell which direction they were heading. in one place the tunnel made 4 right turns in a row. how that was possible was beyond anyone's guess. it wasn't until Senator Cummings notice they were heading downhill. Sean asked why and he said. "because you stupid ninny, its the only explanation. here let me show you. Travis bring your camera over hear and I'll demonstrate." When Travis arrived he asked him to shine the light on the floor. Now everyone watch closely." the senator had a quarter in his hand. he placed it edge side down on the stone floor. carefully he released it. instead of the quarter falling. it started to roll. it rolled about 10 inches then fell. "you see, the incline's been so gradual, that we failed to notice it. It must ever so slight maybe a1/8 inch to every foot. Very ingenious, who every built this was very smart, very smart indeed." Everyone was amazed at the Senators findings. Jason made a mental note to talk to the senator face to face later on. maybe just maybe he and the senator could work things out. it was about time the two buried the hatchet. They continued on for about another 15 minutes. pausing only once so Travis could change the battery on the camera. Jason glanced at his watch, they had to be heading back soon to meet with the others. he was about to tell everyone to turn back when the camera light struck another dead end. The tunnel stopped. a wall blocking their way. Jason had Travis move the light around looking for another indention. sure enough there was one. Jason placed the medallion in the depression. the door disappeared instantly. the locking mechanism a little quicker on the draw. what stood before them was enough to make a man weep. Gold, everything was covered in gold. the walls, the ceiling every thing was covered in gold. there was so much gold that the room illuminated itself. The group entered the room in a low chorus of oohs and whispers. the room was roughly 100 ft square and had about a 50-ft high ceiling. in its center was a small pedestal about 4 ft high and 2 ft square. it too was covered in gold. On the gold covered walls was ancient Sumerian writing. it covered about every square inch of the walls. all except for a fairly large portion of the wall. it was about 5 ft by 20 and it was centered on the left wall. Jason went over to the wall. what he was reading didn't make sense. here on the walls was the answer to mans dreams. the cure for cancer, alternative energy solutions all of mans problems were answered. at least that's what the writing on the walls promised. it said the same thing over and over. "Man may have the knowledge of the universe, but he must capture the power." That's all it said. over and over again. Just what in the hell does that mean? "Commander, may I ask you a question?" asked Sean "sure, What is it?" What does it say, I mean the writing on the wall?" Jason look at everybody. their concerned faces look at him in desperation. this was very hard for him. these people depended on him, all of them. he decided to explain it all to him he asked Travis to put the camera down. this didn't need to be recorded. he watched as Travis placed the camera on the pedestal They all gathered around Jason. he explained the writings. everyone seemed to understand. what nobody knew even Jason was what was happening to the camera as he spoke. Travis had stopped recording, but forgot to cut the cameras power off. The camera was setting upright. pointing towards the rear of the room. a spark came up from the pedestal. it connected with the camera's battery. another spark this one a little longer raced along the length of the camera. the suddenly a melody of sparks enveloped the camera. nobody noticed as the gold plated pedestal parted and absorbed part of the camera. the camera dropped about 10 inches. Just enough it seemed to cover the camera's battery. as quickly as the camera dropped it returned to its original position. the pedestal had absorbed the batteries energy. The Camera was now dead. It was enough energy to set off a chain of events. The energy quickly raced to it destination. a switch was tripped, and a ancient computer came to life. it read its programming, which was quite simple. Learn all and report. its sensors detected 6 humans in the chamber. good all was as it was suppose to be. it needed more information the camera had little data. it was enough to bring the computer to life. It sent a few commands and waited. If these humans were the ones then they would know what to do next. As Jason finished up. he looked at his watch it was time to go and meet the others. He told Travis to get his camera and for everyone to get ready to leave. Travis picked up the camera and check the power supply, strange, he thought, he could have swore this camera had a full battery. he took the old battery off the camera and replaced it with a new one from the backpack he was wearing. as he turned the camera on he looked up. The blank area of the wall had came alive. it was no longer gold. it looked like a television screen. and on this screen was a cursor. a single cursor, blinking steadily. * * * * * Travis stood there transpired by the scene in front of him. he barley managed to weakly mumble something. "what did you say Travis?" asked Jason. Travis slowly lifted his arm and said "How come this keeps happening to me, Commander what is that?" Jason turned towards where Travis had been pointing. "oh my god" was al he could mutter. Batgirl came over to his side and asked what was going on. "look for yourself said Travis pointing toward the blinking cursor. "well shoot isn't that just nice, Hey everybody come here and look." Senator Cummings Sean and Arn walked over to where they were standing. Arn said crap, Sean, just stood there saying oh, my god. but it was senator Cummings who had the biggest reaction "Commander, I knew it, this is some kind of Navy tom foolery." Senator, I am going to have to disagree with you this is not a Navy project, trust me I know. I believe we are dealing something that's older than the pyramids." "you expect me to believe that this is some kind of ancient computer, left here by the citizens of Atlantis, humph, I hardly think so. this is a Navy trick plain and simple." "senator, I still disagree, believe what you will but Its here and I am going to get to the bottom of it." Jason walked over to the pedestal and examined it. there was no markings what so ever, nothing to explain its purpose. He looked at Travis and asked him to show him what he did. "nothing really commander, I place the camera on the pedestal like so, and walked over towards you." Nothing else, Travis?" "I'm sure commander. No I take that back, if I remember correctly, I left the power on." Travis picked the camera back up and cut the power on. he then placed it back on the pedestal the way he had it earlier. "commander, you are wasting your time, there's properly some admiral watching us with a hidden..." Senator Cummings never had the chance to finish. the surface of the pedestal started to change, almost to a fluid like state. the camera started to drop only to be raised again. Travis picked up the camera and notice there was still power. "strange it didn't drain it this time." Jason noted that the pedestal properly only needed a little power to start things in motion. then and idea hit him, he turned to Sean and asked, "I saw you earlier playing with a laptop, can I see it?" Sean replied "sure commander, but please don't break it, it's the only one I have." "I promise Sean If I break it, I'll but you a new one." Sean placed her backpack on the ground and remove the laptop. she cut it on and handed it to the commander. Jason slowly walked around the pedestal. He took a deep breath and placed the laptop on the pedestal. sure enough after a few seconds the pedestal melted and took the laptop. Jason looked up at the big screen "come on Baby, do it." Sean was curious. "what do you want it to do commander.?" "Just watch Sean, Just watch." Suddenly the screen came alive. rows upon rows of zeros and ones filled the screen. "what's it doing commander?" asked Batgirl "it's reading the laptops programming. trying to learn our language." the numbers went one for sometime, suddenly the numbers stopped. they were then followed by unreadable language. Batgirl noticed it was the same language that covered everything. "CAG, is that the same as all the others, if so what does it say?" Jason studied it briefly. "Yes it is, and it says system is rebooting." Suddenly the screen went blank and stayed that way for a few seconds. the suddenly the windows XP logo appeared and the system started to load. Travis couldn't help but to laugh. Jason asked him what was so funny. Travis stopped laughing long enough to say, We discover a ancient computer and we load windows XP into it, I would hate to explain this to Microsoft when it need an update!" everyone busted out laughing. Travis had made a funny. all except senator Cummings he didn't get it. slowly the laughter stopped and everyone's attention returned to the screen. suddenly a program was opening. "what the hell, Commander its starting AOL I don't have an AOL account, I use MSN." squawked Sean Jason wasn't a computer geek, he even typed with two fingers, and all he knew was to turn the thing on and hit a couple of icons. "I guess its using the first program it can use to connect." Senator Cummings then jumped in "commander, if I might be so bold, how can that thing connect, I don't see any phones around, and I'm sure as hell know there's no cable." "I know that Senator, but its trying, Look its connecting." on the screen were the words AOL answering, followed by name and password. as AOL connected and very loud WELCOME was heard. it vibrated the entire room. It was then followed by a much quieter you have mail. everyone laugh at that. They all watched as the computer started surfing. it was clicking on one link after another. Then as soon as the page was up it was closed and another one took its place. it steadily got faster, soon the pages were a blur. "Wow talk about your high speed connections." blurted Batgirl Jason glanced at his watch, they had to be heading back soon. But he didn't want to leave. this was ever so exciting. he now knew what his parents felt when made a major discovery. his stomach let him know it was empty. Just as well go get something to eat. he thought. this might take awhile. the Internet was an awfully big place. "OK people lets head back and get some chow. this things been here for a few thousand years it can wait another hour or two. everybody leave in the same order you arrived." Commander what about my laptop?" questioned Sean. Jason glanced over at the pedestal, it hadn't relinquish its hold on it yet. "later Sean, maybe later. It looks like it still needs the laptop." Sean nodded yes and took her place in line she glanced over at the screen and wondered what it was doing. As the last person exited the chamber the screen stopped. it was a single page. it read:  
Welcome to the pentagon.  
authorized personal only  
Level 5 or higher  
Please enter your name and password.  
Welcome Mr. President.  
Search for thermonuclear warhead inventory  
please wait.  
* * * * *  
  
They arrived back at the greyhound an hour later. Lieutenant Watson's group had struck as far as food was concern "CAG, I'm telling ya, this place is loaded with food." Doc said with a mouth full of pineapple. he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and continued. "there's Pineapples, banana's, coconuts and a few varieties I ain't never seen before." he picked up a purplish fruit and held it out. I have no idea what is called, but man is it delish." Jason reached out and took the fruit from Doc's hand. it was about the size of an apple. It had a velvety skin, its purplish color was so dark it almost looked black. he held it to his nose and sniffed. "honeysuckle, it smells like honeysuckle." said Jason "but taste it, it tastes like pure heaven." Jason took a bite of the fruit. an overwhelming combination of flavors caressed his taste buds. Doc was right, this did taste like heaven. only god deserved this fruit. "Wow!" was all Jason could say. The fruits yellow flesh dribbled juice. Jason took his time savoring each bite. "man that was good. Great job on finding this fruit." "thanks skipper, now would you mind telling me what the blue blazes is going on? what's this I hear about an ancient computer?" Jason quickly filled him in on the details. about finding the entrance, the chamber of gold and the pedestal, how somehow they activated an ancient computer that was possibly 3,000 years older than the pyramids. "let me get this straight. you find a room laden with gold, and somehow activate an ancient computer with a laptop and when you left it was surfing the Internet?" Jason nodded his head "damn, now ain't that something, when due you plan on going back?" Jason checked his watch and thought about it for a moment. "in about a half hour" Doc handed Jason another piece of purple fruit and asked "what do you think we should call this piece of heaven?" Jason didn't have the slightest idea what to call it, when suddenly the name came to him. "ambrosia." "ambrosia, why that Skipper?" "ambrosia is the food of the gods, and this little piece of heaven surly must be what gods eat." Jason took a bite of the fruit and was instantly lost in its taste. Doc noticed that the CAG was occupied waved bye and went over to where Batgirl was sitting. she noticed him coming over to her and waved him over. Here ya go Batgirl, some ambrosia." Doc said as he handed her the fruit. "ambrosia, it has a name now?" "yeah the skipper named them said these were little pieces of heaven and it must be what Gods eat." "it fits" said Batgirl with a mouth full of fruit. juice dribbled down her chin as she took another bite. "what do you make of everything Doc?" "dunno Batgirl. I'm just a good ol boy from Georgia, who was brought up believing in the good book, I might not lead the life of a Christian, but it doesn't mean I don't believe." Batgirl was taken aback by what Doc had just told her. "didn't know you was like that Doc, this must really have you going?" "Naw it doesn't really, I know there's a lot more under the surface. I'll make my decision after everything comes out in the open. My mama didn't raise no fool, I'll take whatever this things dishes out, whether I like it or not. besides this may answer a lot of questions about man." Batgirl took another bite of ambrosia, Doc never stuck her as the religious type. she understood what Doc was going though. her own upbringing caused stirrings in her soul. "don't let it bother ya, wait till you see this place, the room must be 50 ft square and everything, and I mean everything is covered in gold."  
  
Doc's eyes widen at the thought of all that Gold. He wasn't a greedy man, the navy paid him well enough, but the thought of all that gold caused his heart to race. he looked over Batgirl's shoulder and saw Arn and Miss Kinsley holding hands. "what's up with the love birds?" Doc asked pointing them out. Batgirl glanced over to where Doc was pointing. "oh those two, nothing much I believe, their just two lost souls who found each other. glad somebody on this island found happiness. remarked Batgirl "didn't know you had a soft spot Batgirl." joked Doc Batgirl gave him the don't mess with me look and reached into one of the many pockets on her flight suit. she pulled out a 3-inch stub of a cigar and her lighter. she shrugged her shoulders and lit it. "oh well might as well get it over with." Batgirl said referring to her last cigar. "Apollo said I needed to quit, kept telling me I was stinking up the cockpit." Dock chuckled "CAG's right, I can tell when you two launch, the captain calls over the 1mc and says everyone can breath now." "Ha ha, ha Doc you made a funny, but you better run, cause I need a place to put this thing out when I'm done. Doc realized what she meant and went off after Arn. she watched as Doc met up with the. his was a tortured soul, she prayed he would find his way. "enjoying the Ambrosia Batgirl?" it was Apollo. she jumped as he spoke. he had surprised her. "damn it Apollo, let someone know your coming up on their six" shouted Batgirl as she clutched her chest. Jason snickered as he caught her completely off guard. "that will teach ya not to forget to check your rear." Batgirl mumbled something about Jason being lower than a snipe as she stood up. she glanced into hi face and saw it was time to go. "Going back up soon, aren't ya Jason?" Batgirl asked as she brushed dirt off her flight suit. Jason nodded noting the tone of her voice. She had used his first name only when she knew something was bothering him. "Yeah soon Rachel." Jason said acknowledging that she knew something was bothering him and she was there if she needed him. "I'm going to leave you here and take Doc instead." "you think that's best, now isn't the best time for him, he's having problems with all of this." astonished by the fact that Doc was having problems. Jason questions Batgirl on how she knew this. "he's keeping it to himself, I just found out 5 minutes ago. Jason now understood why Doc was having problems. if what Jason thinks is happening is true, a lot of the worlds religions are going to doubt their faith. still it was crucial that Doc get over his problems ASAP. "he still goes, I need you here to organize provisions and to start some other shelter besides the plane. Take an inventory of everything, including the fuel in the greyhound. we may just need it." "Aye Aye sir." replied Batgirl "who are you leaving with me?" "I'll leave the two love birds, Fuzzy and Barney Rubble over there. Jason said pointing out the short stocky blonde haired man talking to Senator Cummings. Barney Rubble wasn't his real name, Jason thought it was Joseph O'mally Doc had nicked named him Barney Rubble as a joke to his experience. the name stuck and everybody started calling him Barney every since. "Barney, you're giving me Barney? Thanks Apollo, if you wanted to leave me one of the those two, you could at least given me Fred." Batgirl said referring to Barney's sidekick. Fred by the way was his real name. or as he puts it Frederick Alexander the III. Fred even looked like Fred flintsone down to the same hair. "sorry Batgirl you get Barney, I'll take Barney next time, promise." "you better or the next time a MIG's on your tail, I won't do a thing, you'll be all on your own.:" "you do that anyway They both laughed at the joke. the two had such a bond that it was impossible for them to become intimate. and they knew it. What they didn't need was a relationship bringing them down. "lets get a move on shall we Batgirl?" ask Jason Batgirl nodded and shouted in a very loud military manner "OK people lets gather around, party times over." everyone stopped what they was doing and started heading towards them. Senator Cummings was the last to arrive. he came trotting from the woods fasting his trousers. Jason waited a few seconds for everyone to catch their breath before he started. " OK everyone, here's our course of action for the rest of the afternoon. Miss Mcduffy, Travis, Fred and Lieutenant Watson will come with me. the rest of you will help Batgirl here. are there any Questions?" seeing that there was none he added, we'll move out in 5 minutes. so everyone get ready." he waited as everyone broke into their groups. He Saw Doc standing by himself kicking sand. "Lieutenant. Watson, may I see you for a second?" Doc looked up and saw the CAG looking at him "oh boy" he thought the CAG knew. "yes sir, you wanted to see me?" "Lieutenant I am going to say this once and only once. you better get your head out of your ass." "sir?" "I'm not saying your messing up Doc, in fact you have done extremely well for yourself. what I am saying is don't let this bother you. I need you to keep your head straight, do I make myself clear?" "Yes Sir, you don't have to worry sir, I'll be there for you." "thanks, I knew I could count on you Doc, you ready?" "yes sir." "all right people lets move. Batgirl we'll be back at 1700. The first thing Travis said as they entered the chamber was "damn it, it's done changed again!" As Jason entered the chamber, sure enough everything had changed. Gone was the Gold. the chamber was now covered by a dull battleship gray. The Room had changed in size also. it was now roughly 200 ft square. The Room was now tri-leveled. they stood on the upper most portion of the room. The pedestal was gone also. in its place was a command station of some kind. It was circular had several monitors and a very comfortable looking chair. the laptop was in the chairs seat. Along the back of the room were all sorts of workstations, all with monitors. the giant screen stilled showed web pages being open and closed. Jason caught a brief glimpse of one. it was a DOD page by the look of it. but he couldn't be sure. the screen had moved away from its original position, it was now along the far wall and it also had changed its size. Jason saw some steps leading toward the lower levels. the lower levels consisted of rows of workstations. he walked down the right side and stopped at the closest console. It showed the environmental conditions. he walked to the next it showed power supply. the next on was the most interesting. "radar!" shouted Doc as he noticed the image on the screen. "No, its not radar, something far more advanced. How many radar's do you know that give, speed, height, course and number of life forms on board?" Jason asked as he pointed to a rather large return. It showed air speed at 350 knots with a heading of 270 with 276 humans onboard with 3 unknowns. "crap, I see what you mean." Doc said as he touched the screen around the large return. suddenly the image on the screen changed to a detailed image of the return. it showed a Boeing 747. it also showed the position of each person, even those who were moving. Doc touched it again and it returned to its original position. "touch Screen." both replied at the same time. Jason noticed a smaller image moving fairly fast. "there touch that one, the one moving at mach 1.4 heading 105. Doc touched the image. it showed a single F-18 and its single pilot. it also displayed the plane weapons each one blinking with a bright red color. "properly looking for us." replied Doc. Jason nodded his head in agreement when suddenly an idea came to his head. "quick everyone look for anything that may resemble communication gear. everyone started looking. after a few minutes Christi found it. "commander over here, I think I found something. Jason approached the console Christi was standing at. he looked at the display and agreed it was a communication station. The display noted all incoming and outgoing communications. it was time to go to work. As were all the stations there was a fairly large chair in front of it. he sat down and instantly noticed how comfortable it was. "I got to get me one of these chairs." He looked closer at the screen and noticed it was picking up all known bands including some very sensitive military traffic. that would have to wait till later. he touched the button labeled FM and the screen changed to a virtual radio dial. he noticed a button labeled volume and tapped it a couple of time. static could faintly be heard. he placed his finger on the virtual dial and slowly moved it to the right. the first station to be picked up was giving a news broadcast. the announcer could barley be heard. "turn it up commander." said Christi. Jason tapped the volume button again and the announcer could be heard more clearly. "continuing with our top story, The US Navy is continuing the search for the missing Aircraft that went down last Friday. onboard was Senator Justin Cummings, his staff Fred Alexander, Joseph O'mally, Christi Mcduffy, CNN reporter Sean Kinsley and her Cameraman Travis Rich. Also on board were 4 US Navy personnel, Lieutenant David Watson, Lieutenant Kevin Anderson, Lieutenant Rachel Harris, and Commander Jason Michels. Commander Michels is currently the United States top fighter pilot with 4 confirmed planes shot down in combat. the search is expected to continue till Tuesday. In other news the North Korean Government continues its buildup on the......" Jason touched the screen and the screen returned to its original position. the room became quiet as the broadcast stopped. he touched the area of the screen marked outgoing. the screen changed again, this time it displayed. NO UNAUTHORIZED TRANSMISSIONS ALLOWED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE COMMANDING OFFICER. frustrated Jason got up and said "looks like were locked out people. continue exploring the room and look for any signs of other passageways." Everyone went about looking and exploring. Jason went up to the command station and picked up the laptop. It was dead, its power drained. he sat down in the chair and overlooked the room. Its shear size was unbelievable. whoever built this was far more advanced than current man. that much was sure. He felt a presence and knew his parents were here. he whispered "Mom, Dad, you were right all the long. I'm glad your here with me and help guide me." He touched the workstation. "don't worry whoever you are. I know what's happening, I won't fail you. "Commander, I've found something." shouted Doc. he got up and walked to where Doc was standing. "what have you found Doc?" "looks like a doorway of some sorts, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to open it." the door was void of any markings or handles. the only way you could tell it was a doorway was because it was recessed into the bulkhead. Jason spotted a diamond shaped indention in the center of the door. Jason removed the medallion from around his neck and placed it in the indention. the door open with a whoosh. "damn CAG, you never cease to amaze me, hey guys come quick, we've found another door." Jason sensing something was drawing him in, was the first to enter the door. lights flickered on as he passed the threshold. "automatic sensors" said Jason as he approached the first door on the right. it was also void of any marking except for the same diamond shape indention. he paused for a second and glanced down the hallway. the other were looking into the other rooms that dotted the hallway. "What's down there Doc?" "Berthing area CAG. each room except for the one beside you is a two person berthing area. each has two beds, lockers and what looks like a bathing area. Oh lord I hope they work I could use a bath. what you got there CAG?" Jason placed the medallion in the indention and as the door opened he said "Captains Quarter Doc." as he finished he stepped into the room. Doc watched as the door closed behind him. he walked over to the door and realized it wouldn't open for him. "dear lord, guide him at this time of need." Doc prayed. "Lieutenant the showers work and there's hot water and everything." shouted Fred Doc walked towards the two. The idea of a hot shower briefly made him forget about the CAG "where's the commander?" Doc thought about it for a moment "he's seeking our future Christi, he's seeking our future."  
  
Just how long Jason stood in the darken room was anybody's guess. he just stood there with his eyes closed just listening. the only sound he heard was the beating of his heart. he heard a click and new the lights were on. he open his eyes and was totally amazed. Instead of a finely furnished room, it was very barren. a double bed sat against the right bulkhead. it was smartly made. a clothes closet was beside it. he opened it. rows of uniforms of some sort hung within. the uniform was made of white britches and a dark blue tunic. They reminded Jason of the Marines dress blues. He closed the door and continued to look around the room. a desk was against the left bulkhead. it had one monitor and what looked like several picture frames. he picked up one and saw it was a very beautiful woman. her auburn hair and green eyes stood out. She was very beautiful. he returned the photograph to its original place and sat down in the over stuffed chair. A glance at the monitor told him what to do next. a single image of the same diamond shape flashed on the screen. he touched it and the blinking stopped. the medallion was still in his hand. he placed it against the image on the screen and the computer spoke. "MINU SUMSU?" The computers choice of language startled Jason. He was expecting English. But the Computer spoke Sumerian that much is sure. if he under stood it right it asked him his name. now what was the words oh yeah it came to him "Sut Resi Michels" Jason replied hoping he got the translation right. "Qabu Kobolian?" it asked Kobolian what was that? Jason asked to himself. He understood Qabu it meant speak. He guessed Kobolian meant Sumerian when this place was built "She, Ma Namrasu." Jason told him he could, but it was difficult "Minu Sa Me Qabu?" It asked him what language he spoke. "English" "Eresu Awatum English, Sataru." Jason smiled. the computer was accessing its language files as was going to speak English. "Is this English?" asked the computer in an overly British accent. "Yes it is, can you change dialect?" "Yes, I can what is your preferred dialect? "United States English." "accessing data, making changes. the computer paused for a second. "how is this?" asked the computer, now using a very standard American accent. "Very good, perfect." replied Jason "Please watch the screen." Jason watched as a man in his late 50's appeared. he was well tanned and wearing the same kind of uniform Jason found in the closet. His short white hair and steel blue eyes made the statement he was in command. "My name is Fleet Commander Ra. May I have the pleasure of your name sir? asked the man on the screen in perfect English. only it wasn't so perfect. the computer was making the translation and it didn't quite line up with his mouth. "Commander Jason Michels, United States Navy, Sir." "well Commander Jason Michels, United States Navy, You have made quite a discovery for yourself, haven't you?" "Yes sir, I have." "your wondering what this is all about aren't you commander?" "Yes sir, the thought has crossed my mind." "well to begin this is just an recording of Fleet Commander Ra, He programmed me to relay his message. does that bother you Commander?" "No sir." "OK, it looks like nothing much is going to bother you, so we will begin." the man on the screen started pacing. "10,000 of your years ago Earth was very much like it is now. full of life, beautiful, then we came along." "we sir?" "we as in the human race that is. are you familiar with the word Kobol?" "No sir, should I be?" "then you have forgotten then." "forgotten what sir?" "That life here began out there, far amongst the heavens." Jason nodded in agreement, after all that's what his parents believed and tried in instill in him. "Does that shock you commander?" "no sir, my parents taught me to keep and open mind." "good very good." the fleet commander or the computer simulation started pacing back and forth a couple of times before continuing." 15,000 yarhens ago or as you call them years. Earth became the 13 colony of the planet Kobol. Sadly Earth was not your ordinary colony." "how's that sir?" "Earth was a penal colony of Kobol. outcasts murders, and other assorted degenerates were sent here." "What about the DNA evidence that showed man evolved on Earth. and what of the cro mags the dominate species of that time?" "That species was dying out commander. they were in the midst of a major plague. they died out 300 years after we arrived. as far as the DNA evidence, we doctored the DNA so it would resemble the Cro-mags as you would call them." "What were they dying of fleet commander, your people didn't have nothing to do with it, did you." "no commander we didn't, they were dying of what you would call small pox. when we arrived 65 percent of the cro-mag population suffered from small pox. That much of the population being infected spelled their doom." 'but if man didn't come from this planet, why doctor the DNA?" "we doctored the DNA, because we didn't what you to remember where you came from, not yet anyway. Like I said Earth was a penal colony. only the worst criminals were sent here." "that still doesn't explain why you would change the DNA" "I was getting to that commander, you see there was a growing movement on Kobol. people believe that man had forgotten his roots. that his God was technology. people were wanting to abandon all technologies and start anew. At the time Earth was colonized out last ruler became a follower of the movement. he declared all prisoners be stripped of all technologies and fend for themselves." "couldn't they remember where they came from, plus their knowledge of how to make things?" "before they were sent into the wild, their memories were wiped from them. all but the basics like speech, and other survival skills." 'but what of the different races of man. the oriental, Caucasian and blacks. their all from different areas of the world. surly they just didn't get placed there." 'most surly they did commander. we wanted you to forget your past. to remember nothing of Kobol and where you were from. it was part of your prison sentence." "my prison sentence, are you saying I am paying for the sins of the father." "you might say that Commander." "but why didn't you want us to remember?" "because we had faith in you." "Faith in what?" "faith that you would lose your violent ways. we wanted you to live life to its fullest. we wanted you to explore, be compassionate and to be govern by the people." Jason thought about the current position of Earth's political status. the planet's only true democratic government was the United States. Sure there was other nations modeled after the US, but they weren't true democracies. "I'm sadden to learn that our vision was in vain the people of this planet is very violent. Hate is rampant. your so-called entertainment is repulsive to say the least. there war and famine through out the world. even your own United States is full poor and the hungry. My father was right you don't deserve to live." "Whoa, stop it right there, I'm not about to stand by and let you threaten Earth. I know she's in sorry shape, but damn it we're trying. it takes time." "time is something you have ran out of commander." "Are you telling me, your just going to destroy us because we failed to live up to your expectations. what kind of advanced civilization do you come from RA where you destroy what you don't like" "You forget commander I am just a computer following my programming. I have no remorse what so ever. just as the atlantians met their fate so will your people. You have failed to learn from your mistakes to grow and learn."  
  
"that is not true, mankind has made great strides in learning from our past mistakes. if anything this planet is a much safer place to live, than it was say 10 years ago."  
  
"is it truly commander, if I read my data right, your United States has been a bully for the last few years, overthrowing governments and killing those who disagree."  
  
"I believe you have your facts wrong RA, while its true the US has made a few regime changes in the last few years. access your Data on Sept. 11th, 2001. the United States was attack many people lost their lives that day. we took it upon our selves to rid the world of these monsters. and if another country didn't like it oh well. it wasn't their fight."  
  
"but afterward your asked for the worlds help, and the world snubbed their noses at you. yet you still went after other countries. Syria, Iraq, Libya are but a few of the countries that you have invaded and over threw the government in place. what gives you the right to play the worlds police man commander?"  
  
"I'm not a political man RA, But I am not one to follow what my government feeds me. As I understand it, the right the united states has to be the policeman as you call it comes from the blood of fellow servicemen who lost their lives in such places as Normandy, Iwo Jima, Siapan, and Gettysburg just to name a few. when the world trembled at the face of tyranny, the United States was there for them. Our blood was spilled so people of this planet might have peace."  
  
"So you feel the People of other nations owe you?"  
  
"maybe owe us is not the right words, maybe acknowledgment is a better way to put it. We the United States I mean, Has only one true doctrine. Speak softly and carry a big stick. We don't go out looking for fights, we would very much prefer peace. But if a country or certain persons decided to tangle with us then by god bring them on."  
  
"speak softly and carry a big stick, I like that Commander. But it doesn't change anything. Your United States Cannot do it alone. sure you have some nations on your side. and yes more countries everyday become freer because of you. But Mankind has yet to learn it lesson.  
  
"Wrong RA, the people of this planet deserve their lives, even if some are not as free as others. You can't destroy us, can't you see we're trying?"  
  
"Commander, Your country isn't even 250 yarhens old yet, how can I have faith in such a young people? Your the planets only true superpower, but yet you have people living in poverty and children who starve."  
  
"Because as flawed as we are, the people of the United States enjoys their freedoms above all else. take that away from them and they will fight you to the last person."  
  
"Yes United we stand divided we fall. big words commander for such a small people. But for all your people do to the world and to try an improve it, this planet as you Americans like to say is going to hell in a hand basket."  
  
"Us Americans as you put it, keep this planet from falling apart. If it weren't for us, this world would already be dead."  
  
"I agree Commander, but you cannot go it alone."  
  
"I've heard that before and we have always proved the skeptics wrong."  
  
"I don't believe you can prove me wrong Commander."  
  
That last remark was what Jason was looking for. RA had giving the people of Earth and out."  
  
"OK then You're on, try me, prove the people of Earth wrong."  
  
"your sure about this Commander?"  
  
"As a human being, it is my right to defend myself against challenges about my deeds or those of my planet."  
  
"So you speak for all humanity then Commander?" asked RA  
  
Jason thought about the gravity opt the question. If his answers did not satisfied Ra, then mankind would parish. the Medallion warmed against his chest. He knew he could do it.  
  
"Yes I will speak on mankind's behalf."  
  
"Can I use any medium available to me to prove you wrong commander?"  
  
"only if I can have access to any medium also."  
  
'but of course commander anything else."  
  
"yes just one more thing, humanity must know they are on trial."  
  
"they already do commander. the micron minute you entered this room, this complex as you call it, has been broadcasting all over the world, in all known languages. even you kids MTV is broadcasting our discussion."  
  
"how can be certain you are telling me the truth RA."  
  
"look at the second monitor on the left."  
  
Jason glanced at the monitor and the screen came to life. it was showing a cable news channel. the screen was split in two, on the left side was the commentator, and the right was himself looking at the screen. he turned to where the camera was and saw no such thing..  
  
"this is amazing, so know humanity knows their on trial, what will be their reward when we win this discussion?'  
  
"Your very confident aren't you Commander, as well as you should be. OK this complex contains vast amounts of data, of which is the entire database of Kobol before the exodus. To proved that I am a man of my words, I will release enough information to advance your civilization 100 years in just 10, Think of it commander, the cure for Cancer, AIDS and other terrible diseases. unlimited fuel sources that are safe and dependable. all of mankind's answers are riding on your shoulders." Ra paused for a second and closed his eyes. When he opened them he said. "It is done. I have started a massive data dump to all media outlets on Earth. please watch the monitor."  
  
Jason watched the monitor and the Commentator put his hand to his ears and started talking.  
  
"we are receiving word that massive data is being transmitted like RA said. the amount of information is so vast, that it threatens to burn out our systems here at.." the screen went blank as RA cut it off  
  
"As you can see, I have fulfilled my part of the bargain."  
  
"Yes You have RA, and if I may ask, when do we start?"  
  
"tomorrow morning at 0900 as you tell time"  
  
"agree." Jason asked the current time and made sure his watch was set.  
  
"until then Commander, sleep well you may need it."  
  
Yes sir." Jason said as he stood up and left the room. as he exited the room, there was Batgirl leaning against the opposite wall arms folded.  
  
"so I guess we're under trail huh?" asked Batgirl.  
  
Jason nodded and said. "so you know then?'  
  
"yeah, but its about time you came out of there."  
  
"Just how long was I in there?"  
  
"about 3 hours."  
  
"3 hours, it doesn't even feel like I have been in there 15 minutes."  
  
"I dunno Apollo, according to my watch you went in there at 1330 hours or that's what Doc tells me. It's now 1643 so that makes it a little over 3 hours." Jason shook his head and motioned for Batgirl to follow him. he walked towards the command center and asked "So what do you make of all of this.?"  
  
Batgirl responded in her usual manner. "Request permission to speak freely sir!"  
  
"Permission granted."  
  
"I believe Ra knows more than what he is telling you ."  
  
"I agree Batgirl, But tell me this, what makes you believe he's hiding something."  
  
Batgirl reached the hatch before Jason and stopped and turned around.  
  
"Apollo, we have been flying together for what 5 years now?"  
  
"Yes something like that, maybe closer to 6."  
  
"Have I every steered you wrong Sir?"  
  
"not to my knowledge, what's this got to do with Ra?"  
  
"I just wanted to you to know I was serious but anyway brace yourself for what you are about to see, then you will understand why."  
  
Batgirl motioned for Jason to enter the command center. he walk through the door an stopped dead in his tracks. No it couldn't be he thought. it was impossible.  
  
"Batgirl, is that what I think it is?"  
  
"Yes sir it is, that's the planet Earth, I do believe we're not in Kansas any more."  
  
There on the main screen bigger than life was the planet Earth in all of her glory. striking blues, browns and white clouds covered the big blue marble. They spent the next 20 minutes exchanging stories and getting facts straight. "I know it sounds crazy Batgirl, But it only felt like 20 minutes, not 3 hours like you say." Jason said as he sat down in the chair by the command station. "we'll whatever the time, at least you didn't see your world change right before your eyes. One minute I was caring ambrosia and the next I was in a hanger bay of some sort." Jason lit up when Batgirl mentioned the hanger bay, by he account she saw some wicked looking aircraft there. "Tell me more about those fighters you saw Batgirl" "It's one of the most lethal looking fighters, I have ever seen Sir. It look's like a SR-71 Blackbird, only the thing has 3 engines, one stacked on top of two, Its about the size of a hornet more or less, its painted the darkest black except for a red stripe running down its center." "how many did you see?" "I counted 30 sir, but I'm sure there more. I also saw what might be best described as a shuttle. kinda boxy looking thing, it has two engines. looks like it doesn't fly very fast!" "I'm sure looks can be deceiving, but how in the hell did you ever fine you way back here?" "once I figured out this thing was a carrier of some sort, I figured the bridge was on the highest point on the ship, so I stated heading up" "it must have taken forever?" "no sir, took about 15 minutes, the second thing I saw was a elevator of some kind, Took me a few minutes to figure out how it worked, but it went straight here." "how about the others, anybody get lost?" "Barney was missing for a while, but we found him 2 levels down, he was locked in a storage closet of some kind and it took us awhile to figure out how to open it. but besides that, we had no other excitement." "so where's everybody at now?" Kristi found some showers that worked and everyone is taking showers, which is what I am going to do when we are finish here." A shower sounded very good right about now to Jason. He was about to tell; Batgirl to hit the showers when he glanced up at the main viewer and a ship came into view, not any ship but a massive ship. Twin nacelles type appendages dropped from her massive body. the front of the ship reminded Jason of a Gator's mouth. a massive engine section covered the back third of the ship. "Batgirl I think you better turn around and look at the screen. Batgirl turned around and saw the massive ship. "yes sir I forgot to tell you about the other ships." "other ships, what other ships.?" "follow me sir and I will show you' Jason followed Batgirl to the scanner station as she put it. he watched as she sat down and started touching the screen. "I Played around with this thing about a hour waiting for you and I have figured about half of it out. the ship you see in front of you is identical to this one. the computer doesn't have a ship classification for it, but I know a lot about it and the ship we are on. that one is called the Valhalla, this one is called Eden's Gate." How many ships are there?" "as far as I can tell by the scans, 276 ships of different types. there are 13 ships like this one. according to these reading these ships are over 2 miles in length and weigh in at about 2 trillion metric tons. "wow, that's a lot of ship, but what about the other ones?" "I count 27 cruiser or battleship type ships, 59 destroyer or light frigate type. the others look to be mainly transport and support ships. Most of them is on the far side of the moon, that's where they have orbited, But the others like this on has..." Jason finished the sentence for her. "Entered orbit surrounding Earth, Am I correct?" Yes sir you are, each Carrier has stationed itself evenly around the planet. the Valhalla, is the last ship to arrive." Jason nodded, it made could military sense, But the shear number of ships was mind-blowing, to have over 200 ships still operational after thousands of years of non service was a sign on how advanced man had became at one time. "There's more sir" Batgirl said as she pressed a few more touchscreen buttons. More, how much more can there be Batgirl, there's enough ships out there to destroy a whole mess of Earth's and not even break a sweat, what more could they use.  
  
"Just to be courious on how far this thing can scan, I chose to scan in the direction of the nearest star system to Earth" "you mean Alpha Centauri? "Actually Sir, Proxima Centauri, is the closest star to us. Its part of a trinary star system you know as Alpha Centauri, Of the three stars of the system, Proxima is the least likely to harbor life. Alpha Centauri A and B are very close to our own sun." "I had no idea Alpha Centauri was a trinary, I guess I'm like most folk and think its only one star. How come you know so much about stars n such Batgirl?" "The stars was My first love sir, My grandfather gave me a telescope for my 5th birthday. I almost went into astrology instead, but I decided I wanted to do something a little more less dory, so that's why I joined the Navy." "You said there was more, what else have you found?" "like I said, I was scanning in the general direction of the Centauri system and I found more ships, there is only 3 of them, their outside the which is basically a debris field, just outside of our solar system. A lot of comets originate from this field." Batgirl fingers went to work on the display. Jason watched as the main screen changed to reveal the 3 ships, they were identical to Valhalla. But they wasn't in as great of shape, one of the ships was missing its starboard nacelle. another had it's nose section completely demolished. it was the one in the middle that stood out. there was very little left of the ship. about two thirds of the ship was gone. "I hope those poor souls got out before the ships died.?" "Amen sir." Batgirl said understanding the Commanders meaning. No sailor like to see ships destroyed in this manner. If there was one who died onboard, she hoped it was quick and painless." "is their any clue to their names?" "hold on sir, I'll check. Batgirl touched the screen a couple of times and said. Two of the ships as listed as unknowns just their registration numbers. however the one in the middle is called Iblis. Kinda a strange name for a ship, what do you think Iblis means sir?" Iblis, the name sounded very familiar to him, then it came upon him. "Iblis means devil in the Qur'an. It's one of the two names mentioned there the other is Shaytan" Batgirl looked quizzically at Jason as though a light bulb went off in her head and she suddenly got it. She looked back at the display, put two and two together, and asked. "Shaytan, is that the same as Satan?"  
  
Jason smiled as he answered, "yes it is. Shaytan is derived from Satan. Kind of ironic that the ship is named after the devil. Just out of curiosities sake what are the hull numbers to the other two ships?"  
  
Batgirl glanced at the console and replied, the one on the right is number 428 and the one on the right is." Batgirl paused for a second as the ships hull number popped up. No it couldn't be jeeze why of all numbers did this one have to be this one.  
  
She looked up at Jason, and said, "You're not going to believe the ships number sir, its hull number 1701."  
  
Jason didn't get it, 1701 what is blue blazes did 1701 mean. Batgirl noticed the puzzled look on the commander's face and answered his question for him  
  
"1701 is the hull number of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek sir. I thought it was a little weird, that's all sir."  
  
Of course he got it now, He was never a fan of star trek, star wars or any of that sort of entertainment. But he understood why Batgirl thought it was weird. A spaceship with the hull number 1701 was bound to raise a few eyebrows.  
  
Jason felt his back twinge a bit from bending over watching Batgirl. He stood up and straightens his back. He needed a hot shower, hold it a minute, didn't Batgirl mention showers before hand.  
  
"Batgirl where are those showers at. I think I'm in need of one."  
  
Batgirl agreed that she needed on to and told Jason that she should follow her and she will lead him to them. Batgirl stood up and motioned Jason towards where he left Ra. Just, as they were about though leave Jason turned and looked at the image of Earth on the screen.  
  
Earth in all her glory stared back at him. Never in his wildest dreams would he believe that he would be in space. But here he was about to defend all humanity, and the only thing he could think about was a hot shower.  
  
He turned back and saw Batgirl was waiting on him. "Oh well" he thought. "At least I got to see Earth from space. He quickly followed Batgirl through the door eagerly anticipating a shower.  
  
They walked down past RA's quarters perhaps 50 feet when they came into what was obviously a berthing area. A rather large berthing area. It reminded Jason of a chief's berthing on the Sennis.  
  
It was about seventy feet long by forty-five feet long. Rows of single beds ran along the length of the room. Jason guessed it slept 20 people. In between each bed was a storage locker of sorts. It stood six feet high and was about 3 feet wide.  
  
There were numerous round tables in the center of the room. Around each table were five chairs.  
  
There were also several monitors and what looked like communication equipment along the far wall. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn this was a berthing area on the Stennis  
  
Sitting around the closest table was Doc, Fred, and Barney and Travis playing cards. Jason noticed there was a rather large pot in the middle of the table. Good ol' Doc, He was a legend on the Stennis, if there was a game, he would find it.  
  
Gambling on a navy ship was technically illegal, but it never stopped sailors from finding interesting places to have a card game. He once came across a game in a paint locker on the USS America. There was six Deckape's crowded in there getting high on paint fumes and having a ball.  
  
(Authors note: Deckape is Navy Slang for a sailor who works in the ships Deck department. These are you Jack of all trade sailors. They do anything for steer the ship, paint the ship, and tie up the ship. Refuel the ship. They are officially called Boatswains' Mates.)  
  
"OK Doc, where did you get the cards, and don't tell me you found them on the ship." Jason said as he sat down inn a rather overstuffed chair, beside the table.  
  
Doc look ups from his cards and saw Jason. He held up his finger as to tell him wait a second. He looked at his cards and reached for a 20-dollar bill, and placed it in the pot.  
  
"I'll see your 10 and raise you another 10, and before you say anything CAG, this is not a US Navy ship. And besides the cards belong to Travis."  
  
"This true Travis?" Question Jason  
  
Travis looked at his cards and nodded yes. He picked up a 10 to cover Docs raise. And called.  
  
"What you got partner?" asked Doc  
  
"Straight flush." Travis said as he placed his cards down he had the four to the eight of spades.  
  
Doc's eyes widen at the site of Travis cards.  
  
"Damn I don't believe it."  
  
Travis reached out and started to claim the pot when Doc laid his cards down.  
  
"All I got is a straight flush also, only mine is bigger, and it's called a royal Flush." Doc laid his cards down to show the10 through the Ace of Hearts.  
  
Everybody hooted and hollered at the royal flush. Travis just stood there speechless as he watched a massive pot disappear.  
  
Jason stood up from his chair and walked over to Travis. He placed his hand on his shoulder and said "don't worry kid, one of these days, he'll lose. When he does I'll call you. The guy was born with a golden horseshoe up his ass."  
  
"I was not CAG, besides it's platinum not gold." Doc said as if he was hurt by the words.  
  
"Very well, where is the rest of our motley crew at?" Jason asked  
  
"Sean, Kristi and Arm are taking showers."  
  
And what of the Senator?"  
  
"Fuzzy said he was hungry and went off to find the Galley."  
  
Jason turned to Batgirl, and asked if she had taken her shower yet.  
  
"No I haven't, the idea of a shower is a refreshing one, but to change right back into this filthy flight suit afterwards is kind of unsettling."  
  
Jason nodded in agreement; it almost seemed pointless in taking a shower, when all you had to change into stunk worse than the bilge's of the Stennis.  
  
Just as he was about to ask where the showers were located, Senator Cummings came running into the berthing.  
  
"Commander, we have a problem, you need to contact this Ra fellow."  
  
"Whoa slow down senator, what's the problem?"  
  
"There are no foodstuffs onboard. I've checked every galley I could find, nothing is to be found."  
  
Jason asked "but what about the fruit trees we found, surly they wasn't a illusion?"  
  
"Oh they exist all right, but instead of 100s of trees there are only 4 and the fruits gone."  
  
"Now how can that be possible, I saw them myself."  
  
"Who knows how any of this is possible? Besides if we are to be destroyed, I would at least like to go out with a full stomach." Jason nodded in agreement and turned to exit the Berthing. "For once we are in agreement, I'll head there now and asked if there is any food on board." Jason opened the door and got a great shock. There standing in front of his was Ra, not the computer generated version, but the real McCoy himself."  
  
By all that's holy." muttered Doc as he crossed himself.  
  
"Greetings Commander, I am sure you have a few questions? Come grab a chair and sit beside me," asked Ra as he walked by Jason and sat in the same over stuffed chair Jason was sitting in earlier.  
  
Jason looked at Ra; this Ra was more older and frail looking. He looked tired and wanting. Jason grabbed one of the nearby chairs and sat down beside Ra  
  
"Well Commander, do I surprise you?" asked Ra.  
  
"In a sense you do Ra, but I did have my suspicions about you."  
  
"Oh really commander?" Ra said tiring to acted surprised  
  
"It was nothing you did really, but just a few slips on your part. You would say I instead of my programming. The emotions that showed on your face, little things like that."  
  
"My and observant one. I take it you found out there are no food stuffs onboard?" Ra asked quickly changing the subject.  
  
Jason was rather annoyed at Ra for changing the subject so quickly. He had a lot of questions that needed answering and Ra was going to answer them to his liking.  
  
"Yes, sir we have, but I would like to go back to our following discussion, Just how did you do it?"  
  
"Do what Commander?"  
  
"Make us believe this entire ship was a deserted island somewhere in the middle of nowhere."  
  
"It's really above your head commander; your kind is just learning to discovery holography. I don't think your ready."  
  
`When will we ever be ready Ra, in your eyes we're nothing more than newborn children, give me a chance, I might surprise you."  
  
"Commander, you defiantly surprise me. OK when your plane arrived onboard, all of you were unconscious. I wasn't awake yet so the ship used a form of advanced holography on you. The images of the island, surf, sand and food was inserted directly into your brain. You saw, smelled, and tasted what the ships computer wanted you to."  
  
"You said you wasn't awake yet, does that imply you was in some sort of suspended animation"  
  
"Correct Commander, I was, your group failed to locate me in the Med. Lab"  
  
"I see Ra, but out of curiosities sake, just how long was you in suspension?"  
  
A little over ten thousand yarhens, I mean Years."  
  
Jason mouthed the words Ten thousand, man that was quite a long time. They must have figured out a way around cell deterioration and the other complexities surrounding suspended animation. Jason turn his head towards the table and every one was patiently awaiting Jason to ask about food, all except Senator Cummings, whose red face was getting redder by the minute.  
  
"Do you have anymore questions Commander?"  
  
"Ra, I have a ton of questions for you, but now is not the time to ask them, what's important is food for my crew. If there is nothing onboard to eat, then so be it. But I for one would like a full belly for tomorrow."  
  
Ra stood up and walked to the table. He glanced at the cards and money sitting on it.  
  
"An interesting Game this poker. It reminds me of a game I played in my youth called pyramid, does your people still play pyramid Commander?"  
  
"I'm afraid that game didn't survive Sir."  
  
Ra looking disappointed said "its a pity, its a real fun game."  
  
"Sir if I might be blunt, what about food?"  
  
"Oh yes food. I will have a shuttled ready in an hour to take someone from your group to your ship commander. There you can bring on stores and a change of clothing for all."  
  
Jason looked at the old man. Not as much of a threat as he first thought. Maybe this so-called trail won't be so bad. Before he could thank Ra, Ra had a stern warning for him.  
  
"Commander, don't let my generosity fool you. I'm only doing this because you are human. You have showed great restraint towards me. That is why I am allowing a shuttle to leave. If it had been any one else in this group I would have let you starve. But you are a man of honor and integrity. That alone makes you a warrior. The shuttle will leave in 55 minutes commander, I suggest you contact you ship and tell them to expect us."  
  
"How do I do that Ra, you have all out going communications stopped? We cannot contact them unless you lift the block."  
  
"Commander, I lifted the block, thirty of your minutes ago. You can talk to any one you wish, but be forewarned the transmissions will be monitored and any attempt to pass information will be dealt with. Oh there is one more thing. No one is to enter the shuttle except to carry stores. There will be no hitchhikers or stowaways of any kind. They will be considered intruders or a rescue team. Any person or person found onboard the shuttle will be killed on the spot, do I make myself clear Commander."  
  
"Yes sir you do." Jason said realizing Ra meant business and he would kill any intruder on the shuttle.  
  
"Good, I'll see you on the landing bay in 45 minutes." Ra said as he left the room  
  
Ra slowly walked the corridors of his ship. He was lost in the sounds of its past. Every room he passed brought back memories. For the most part they were good memories, but there was plenty of sad ones as well. He remembered the lives lost and the souls saved by his crew.  
  
He entered the bridge and glanced at the screen. The view of Earth was breath taking. He watched as the Battlestar's Excalibur and Valhalla positioned themselves between the Earth and His ship. He walked to his chair and sat down. His head hurt as it always did when he was under a lot of stress. He accessed the ship's computer so he could make a report, then thought better of it. Commander Michels will be showing up soon. He assessed the Earth's Internet instead and searched for some soothing music. Nothing like music to calm ones nerves. A list of song names danced before his eyes. He saw song titles like "Running with the Devil", "The Devil went down the Georgia", "Baby got Back", rock and roll hootchie coo" What in the name of Hades was a Rock and Roll hootchie coo. He scanned the list and came upon something familiar. The names Beethoven and Mozart grabbed his attention. He accessed the Mozart files and selected the first song available, The file quickly downloaded and the song began to play. Ra closed his eyes and let the music fill his mind. An excoriating mixture of sounds filled his ears. The music was so pure and innocent. It reminded him of the music of Kobol. Whenever he was home on leave, he spent many a night at the great music hall in Eden. He would spend centons on end listening absorbing the music. His favorite was a composer named chameleon. To say Chameleon was a normal composer was to say that Hades was a nice place to visit. He was very off beat. Always looking for any sort of advantage he could get. As brilliant as the man was when it came to music, he had 3 major flaws, ambrosia, women and song. They were not in any particular order. The great composer wrote over 35 masterpieces before his death at age 36 yarhens. A jealous husband who found the composer in bed with his wife killed him. The husband, who happened to be a member of the council of the 12, was given amnesty because of the law regarding such matters. He listens as the music's tempo increased. Yes this Mozart would have done well on Kobol. He listens as the music filled his soul. Suddenly he became sadden as the music slowed. He realized that it was going to be a great tragedy when this music was forgotten. He was almost certain Commander Michels would fail. If he did, then this beautiful music would have to be destroyed.  
  
"Requiem in Full score" said a voice off behind him Ra jumped upright in his chair, the voice had startled him he turned and saw commander Michels standing there with three others. "Commander you startled me, " "Sorry sir, I didn't mean too, when we entered the bridge, I recognized the music." "You know this songs title then?" "Yes sir, it is considered Mozart's greatest work. Requiem in full score is its name. Too bad it's incomplete; Mozart died before he could finish it. Ra pressed a button on his console and the music faded away. He stood up and walked towards Commander Michels. As he approached he noticed the commanders eyes were red and slightly watered. This song meant something to the commander. He would keep that in mind just in case. As he approached the group he said "commander, you are a man full of surprises. You didn't take me as a man who enjoyed fine music such as this. I figured you as a, oh feldercarb what was that songs title, something like rook and roll hootchie coo. Or was it rocked. Oh well it doesn't matter. Requiem in full score you say. Interesting word requiem what does it mean?" "It means a musical or hymn for the dead. It was song about death. And Mozart died writing it. And it seems very interesting you chose that one to listen to as earth's fate is held in balance." "Are you implying something commander, I assure you your fate is in your hands, not mind." "I was insinuating anything Sir, I thought it seemed Interesting that you would choose to listen to that one. That's all." "Since you put it that way commander, I am inclined to believe you, I can see where you would get the connection. But enough of that, how can I help you?" "We're here to contact the Stennis and was heading up here to do so." "I see commander, well then don't let me stop you, do you need my assistance in contacting your ship?" "I don't believe so sir, Batgirl, I mean Lieutenant Harris has been spending her free time up here learning the systems. She's got a good head on her shoulders." Ra looked at the woman Commander Michels was talking about. Yes she had the soul of a warrior also. "Very well commander, Carry on, if you need my help, I will be in my quarters." 'Yes sir, we will." Ra nodded and turned to leave the bridge. As he was about to leave the bridge he stopped and turned and looked back at the four. They had gathered around the communications console. He thought about it for a micron and decided he actually may have to rethink his tactics here. Before him was his greatest challenge as a warrior. But this battle was not going to be played on any battlefield. This battle was between two minds. Two minds related by more than just their humanity. He knew who he was. This man was of the house of Adama.  
  
"There you go sir, I think we have finally contacted the Stennis" Batgirl said as she stood up from the chair. Jason took her place and said "about damn time." They had spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to contact The Stennis. They doubted the Stennis was still patrolling her duty station so it was Senator Cummings who came up with the most hair brain scheme. "Commander, do you remember the movie "Heartbreak Ridge"?" Jason thought about it for a moment and said "yes, but what's a Clint Eastwood movie got to do with our current situation?" "You remember the part where they were trapped in a building with a lot of Cubans surrounding them?" "Yeah..." "How did they call in and air strike with their com gear down?" Jason's eyes widened and the answer." They used a phone and called in an air strike, I get it, Fuzzy, you're a genius, forget about all the bad things about you." Jason then turned to Batgirl. "Do you think you can access and communications satellite?" Batgirl nodded and her fingers went to work. After a few seconds she asked what number he wanted to dial. Jason gave her the number to the six fleet headquarters. Fuzzy made a comment about who was paying for the bill and Batgirl said "you are sir,I routed the call through you office in DC." Senator Cummings face got red and it looked like he was going to explode at any second. When suddenly the sound of a telephone ringing caused every one to stop and listen after 2 rings a pleasant voice came over the speakers. "Six fleet headquarters, how may I direct your call?" Jason quickly answered "Charlie, November, Fox-trot, Niner, Niner, Niner" The voice paused on the other end and replied. "Be advised sir, we have no way of knowing if this call is secure on your end." "Understood fleet. I am certain this line is secure." "Very well sir, transferring call now." The voice was replaced by more ringing and after 3 rings another voice answered ""fleet communications, petty officer McDaniels speaking How can I be of assistance?" "Petty officer McDaniels, this is Commander Michels, I need to contact the Stennis and I am in a hurry, Can you help me son?" "Yes sir, I need your security code please." "Alpha, Niner, November, eight (pronounced ate.) Delta, delta fiver." After a few brief seconds the petty officer came back on. "Sir I can't get you in direct contact with the Stennis, but I can give you her position and her IFF codes and frequencies." "thank you petty officer." "no problem sir, and sir if I might be blunt." "go ahead petty officer." "I hope you show this RA fellow a thing or two tomorrow. And oh yeah and Good luck." "thank you petty officer, I sure will." Jason jotted the codes down on a notepad he kept in his flight suit. After a few minutes B1atgirl was able to get in contact with the Stennis. Jason took Batgirl's place at the console and hit the transmit button. "homeplate this is jester flight, come in over." There was nothing but silence and Jason tried again. "homeplate this is jester flight. Please come in over."  
  
Still no answer Jason was about to try again when the speaker came alive. "this is homeplate, go ahead?" "Homeplate, this is Commander Michels, IFF code November, Juliet, Tango, Tango, six, alpha, delta, seven, fox trot." "please repeat last Commander?" Jason repeated the code. There was a minor pause and a new voice came over the speaker. "Apollo, how in the hell do you always manage to get into these little scraps of trouble." Said the voice of Admiral Hawkins. "adriral, I belive this is a little more than a little scrap of trouble." "you bet you ass it is commander, so now what do I owe the pleasure of this call." "sir, Ra has agreed for a shuttle from his ship to return to earth for supplies. There are no food stuffs onboard and me and my crew would like a change of clothes before the trial." "your coming down here on a shuttle. Commander this better not be a joke." "I assure you sir it is not, we will be leaving in 20 minutes." A pause then the admiral said "that's 1600 by my watch commander, what is you ETA?" "unknown sir, but my best guess is 1630 to 1645" "OK commander, so who is coming?" "Just me and Ra sir no others. One last note sir, if there are any stowaways onboard they will be considered hostile and killed, so have a clear flight deck." "Will do commander, now what do you want for supper, my treat." "Sir if you don't mind, how about just surprising us. But I would like to make on request though?" "And that is?" "See if you can spare a bottle of that brandy you have been hoarding." Commander, you know its against navy regulations to have distilled liquors onboard ship, but I'll see what I can do anything else commander?" Yes get Batgirl some cigars she's going through withdrawals."  
  
"OK will do commander, I'll have everything ready for you. Tell Batgirl not to suffer too much, I have a box of Cubans sitting on my desk, I think I can spare them." Batgirl's eyes widen at the word Cuban. Man if she was going to die what better way than to go down smoking the best cigar on the planet.  
  
"Commander I suggest you be on your toes with this fellow RA. Do you understand me?" "Yes sir, I will. And I will contact you when I get a better ETA." "You do that son. Homeplate out." "Well we're all set, now lets head down to the hanger bay."  
  
"Commander I have a request to make." Said Batgirl Jason stopped, as he was about to leave the bridge. "Yes LIEUTENANT What is it?" "Sir I've spent every spare moment on this bridge learning its systems. I would like to monitor your launch from here." Batgirl your all into this buck Rogers stuff aren't you?" "Yes sir I do. I find it so exciting. I belive once this is over, I may never fly in a tomcat again. This is our future and I intend to learn as much as I can. To steal a line from a famous TV series: To boldly go where no made has gone before, has a hell a lot of meaning right now." Jason looked at Batgirl. She looked like she meant it. Every fiber of his being this was the right choice for her. "OK Batgirl stay here, I want you to monitor every thing. I what I mean by everything is keep your eyes and ears open. This bridge is the nerve center of this ship. Everything that happens passes through here. I remember a movie I saw once can't remember the name of to save my soul. But there was this character name v'ger. He had only one mission in life, you know what that is Lieutenant?" Batgirl was puzzled by Apollo's reference to a star trek movie. What did this have to do with her? Then it hit her; she now knew what to do. "Yes sir I know what it means. I hope your right in this case. But I will do my best. Thank you for letting me do this." "No problem Rachel, I know you can do it." "Thank you sir." Said Batgirl as she checked her watch. "Sir you better get a move on. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the Hangerbay and I don't think you want to keep RA waiting." "your right my friend, I'll keep that in mind." Said Jason as he walked to catch up with the others.  
  
He caught up with Senator Cummings and Sean waiting for him at the elevator that led to the hanger bay. "Where's Lieutenant Harris Commander?" Jason entered the elevator and when the door closed he said. "Fulfilling her fantasy Fuzzy, she's living her dream. Now lets get to that hanger bay. They arrived at the bay in no time flat. The first thing Jason saw was the fighter. Damn if Batgirl wasn't right. The things did look like a blackbird. It was roughly 25 ft in length. Had three engines one on top of two. It was painted jet black with a red stripe running down its long nose. Instead of wheels it had a landing skid. One both sides, A gun port was tucked just below the short stubby wings. What she fired, Jason could only dream. Properly some kind of energy weapons. He noticed that Doc had a canopy open on one of them and was looking inside. He looked up and saw the commander and yelled for him to come over. "Sir ya gotta see this cockpit. It's beyond anything I've ever seen before." Jason reached the bird and walked down her starboard side. Pilot's instincts kicked in as he felt her. His hand caressed her wings; her underside was next; His hands felt the life that this bird possessed. He then walked behind her looking at her engines. At this angle the engines and wings made a pyramid shape. What was up with these people and their pyramids? He finished his inspection and met Doc at the access ladder. "Sure is a pretty thing isn't it sir?" Doc asked knowing the answer." "Yes Doc, she sure is." Jason said as he climbed the ladder. And looked inside. What beheld his eyes was more a thing of beauty than the ship itself. The simplicity of the interior was what caught his attention. There were no rudder pedals. The stick was in the center much like his tomcat.3 sets of monitors was arranged in front. Other displays were one both sides. He climbed into the cockpit. The chair was comfortable, but not too comfortable. The headrest was padded. He reached for the stick and grabbed it. He moved the stick in the classic hail Mary. Up down right, then left. It was a pilot's was of praying they wouldn't fall into the drink when they launched. "Commander, I knew you couldn't resist." Came RA's voice as he entered the hanger bay. He continued "I can't resist either. It's called a starfighter. Kinda bland name if you ask me." Ra said as he climbed up the ladder. "If you ask me they should have named her something like cobra or maybe even a viper. Here let me show you her controls." RA leaned over and pressed a button on the fighter's console. Power flickered on and the fighter came to life. "She has three engines that can push her to 1.5 light speed at full turbo. "Excuse me did you say 1.5 light speed as in years?" question Jason "No commander It isn't truly light speed. Nothing can break the speed of light. It's more like three quarters the speed of light. Any way she also has a hyper drive for longer missions. She's armed with 2 pulse lasers each producing enough power to light a small city. She also has 4 hard points that can be use from delivering anything from small missiles to explosive ordinance."  
  
Ra pressed a few more buttons and the center screen came on. "Her scanners can count the hairs on a dagget at a thousand metrons." "Dagget?" "Oh I'm sorry commander I forget you have different terms for everything. A dagget is a small 4-legged animal. Very loyal to humans. I belive You call them dogs." Jason nodded yes as he watched the console. Everything seemed so alien yet so familiar at the same time. "Commander there has been a change of plans, I'm not taking the shuttle as I first thought I would. I've decided we are to take two Starfighters instead." Ra said as he climbed down from the fighter. Jason started to leave the fighter's cockpit when it hit him. "Hold on RA, I am no where near qualified to fly this fighter especially in outer space. May I ask why you changed your mind?" Jason asked as he climbed out of the fighter's cockpit. RA turned and waited for Jason to reach him and said. "One of the engines on the shuttle is not responding to the maintenance protocols. So I had to change our method of travel. As far as you not being qualified to fly the ship. I hardly doubt that Commander. You strike me as a very capable warrior. But rest assured I have a plan. Now follow me and let me explain." RA turned and headed towards the forward part of the landing bay. Jason followed along with everyone else. Senator Cummings quickly caught up with Jason and asked "Commander, are you crazy I can understand traveling in a shuttle, but a 10,000 year old fighter that you have never flown before. I can understand you love of flying, but don't you think this is taking things a little too far?" Jason stopped and turned toward Senator Cummings and said "Fuzzy, I don't know what to think right now, OK?" but let's here what he has to say then We'll make a decision. "Ah here we are RA said as they approached a line of fighters. They were lined up side by side on some sort of rail system. In front of the fighter was some sort of tunnel where they led Jason had no clue. He peak a look inside one of the tunnels and noticed it went on for quite a ways. "It's called a launch tube commander. The Eden has 24 such tubes 12 on each bay. She can launch 24 ships at a time and launch her entire compliment in less than ten minutes." "How many fighters does she carry RA?" Jason asked as he returned by RA's side. "Her normal load is 150 fighters, but in desperate measure she can carry double that." Jason let out a low whistle and said, "wow, 150 fighter launched in 10 minutes, that's some quick turn around. But lets get back to the matter at hand, Just how in Sam hill do you expect me to fly this thing?" "Oh you won't be flying it personally, you will be just a passenger. The first two fighters' you see are an advanced trainer. I will be doing all of the flying. The ships computer systems are inter-linked and I will control what's going on. We found it's a better system than most two-passenger trainers are in that it gives the instructor more flexibility in his training procedures. This trainer is designed for highly advanced students. And even though you only fly primitive jets, your length of time in service makes you more than qualified enough to ride in the trainer." Senator Cummings butted in and asked, "with all do respect RA, I don't belive a word your saying. How can a fighter that's over 10,00 years old still be able to function, not to mention fly in space." Senator Cummings then turned to Jason and said "Apollo, don't go. It's not safe. How can it be? Jason was taken aback by the senators use of his nick. He never called him Apollo before. Not even when they flew together. It was always commander or sir something to that nature. Jason nodded and turned back to RA "You know he has a point RA. How can I be certain these planes are safe?" RA paused for a moment as to think of the proper response. He nodded his head and said. "Commander, nothing in life is certain but death. We all die that much is certain. I cannot say that this is one hundred percent safe. But it's the best option we have right now of getting you and your people food and a change of clothes. And before you ask. The fighter does have a cargo hold that's more than big enough to carry what we need." "Let me discuss it with my friends RA first. I would fell much better listing to their opinions." "Very well Commander, but don't take too long." Ra said as he walked towards a locker. Jason gathered everyone around and asked "OK I need everyone's opinion, we'll start with Travis." Travis' head shot up as his name was mentioned. Man why did the commander have to pick him first? He nodded and said "Gee commander I don't know. It's your but in the sling not mine. But then again from what I can tell you are a man that can handle it. I kinda belive the fellow. Though something about him makes me want to belive he's holding something back." "You noticed it too Travis?' "Yeah there's just something, I just can place my finger on it." Fred stepped up to Jason and said "Commander, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, far from it. But since your asking everyone's opinion on the matter, I thought I would put my two cents worth in." Fred looked at Barney who nodded yes. Fred continued "I think this whole situation is bull crap. Fred and me have been talking and we feel that action needs to be taken now." "That so Fred? And if I might be so bold who do you think action needs to be taken against?" Jason asked knowing the answer. "Against you sailor boy. I'm tired of you holier than thou are attitude. Every since this little adventure began you have made every decision for us. You left senator Cummings out of the loop and we feel that since you're a warmonger you need to be reign in. That's why we are asking Senator Cummings who is the highest ranking US official onboard to order you grounded until the proper time." Jason turned towards Barney and asked "This true, you two think we should put off getting supplies because I'm in the military is that it?" "Nothing of the sort Commander, I belive we should get supplies, but I think that senator Cummings should go instead of you. As a matter of fact, we both agree that senator Cummings should speak for mankind, not you. That's the last thing this planet needs is to represented by a man who wages war for a living." Jason turned towards senator Cummings who had a smile a mile long on his face. "This is your doing isn't it Fuzzy?" "No commander it isn't." senator Cummings said as he walked next to Fred and Barney. "I had nothing to do with these too. But I gotta hand it to them; they are quite a bunch. But I do belive in what they are saying up to a point. You are a warmonger commander plain and simple. But if you want to go flying around in the star I won't stop you." Senator Cummings put his arm around Fred. "Now as for the trail tomorrow. We do need to talk. But after you get back." Jason nodded in agreement and asked if anyone else had anything to say. "Arn asked to shake his hand and gave him a shape salute. Doc said be careful. Kristi said nothing. It was Sean who said the most moving thing. "Apollo, I remember reading about the early days in man space flight. The wonders that these men and women saw are but limited to a few. I ask one thing from you before you leave. When you see the wonders of space please remember it for us. We want you back safe. So you can tell us the tales." when she finished she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Jason was taken aback by the hug. But he understood why she did it. Before he could say anything RA returned from the lockers and said "It's time commander, I need you decision are we going or not?" Jason smiled as he headed towards RA "You bet you sweet ass I am. Now which one is mine?" RA let out the biggest laugh Jason had heard in a long time "Now that's the true spirit of a warrior. But before we leave, I need you to put on this." RA said as he handed Jason a bundle of clothes. "What's this? Jason asked as he examined the bundle. "It's a g-suit. It's used to compensate the g forces you will experience during our flight. I'm sure you have something similar." "I understand the principles of it. Where do I change?" RA pointed out a small room off to the right. Jason went and changed he walked over towards the fighters. RA was standing beside talking to Senator Cummings and waved. "Ah Commander we're all set. I ran a last minute check and the ships are ready to fly. Here's yours right here." Jason walked towards the wicked looking bird. He did a quick inspection and nodded that every thing looked fine. He climbed into the cockpit and waited for RA. "There are three things you should remember about a launch. "One keep your wits about you. A tube launch is something to experience. Let the ship fly its self. Two. Remember to breathe normally. People have been known to black out during launch. Causing loss of life and or property." And three have fun. Now lets go over the launch procedures" RA quickly went over everything from the starting of the engines to emergency protocols. He then handed Jason the weirdest looking helmet. It looked like and Egyptian headrest. Jason put it on and Ra adjusted it. He flipped some sort of switch and the open area surrounding the face lit up. "Damn it's a HUD" Jason said as he noticed the heads up display. He turned his head to the left and right. Sure enough the HUD graphic's followed." "I don't know what HUD means commander but we called it the ghost. So you think you got everything commander?" Jason nodded and gave thumbs up. RA nodded and stepped down from the fighter. The canopy closed and Jason was alone in silence. He looked over towards RA's fighter and watched as RA entered his fighter. As he placed his own helmet on, RA's voice came over the internal speakers. "OK commander remember what I said start launch procedures. oh by the way when I left my quarters I saw your young lieutenant at the com station. Mighty bright child that one. I talked to her briefly and gave her brief instructions on our launching procedures." "Thank you sir, I have all the faith in the world in her. Batgirl has never failed me sir, I would put my life in her hands any day." Jason went trough the launch procedures. Cut on the power supply to the three engines; charge the engine's turbo's. The ship underneath him came to life. He radioed to Ra that he was ready. He heard RA's voice come over the headset "Core control this is alpha flight one request permission for take off." He then heard Batgirl's voice come over also. "Alpha flight one, this is core control, permission granted. You may launch when ready." Jason watched as the stick ever so slightly moved then suddenly the roller coaster ride began.  
  
Just beyond the orbit of Pluto, a ship of light passed her moon Charon. The ship slipped between the two and paused.  
  
"So it has begun." "Yes, let's hope that Commander Michels passes." "If not?" "Then our faith has been in vain" "And what of Iblis?" "Yes what of Iblis" said another voice "Ah my dear Iblis glad you could join us. We was expecting you." "Enough talk John, why have you interfere with earth. I demand to know?" "This is the price you are paying for trying to take Apollo's life. We said we would choose that at a later time." "This is not fair, Earth gets a massive fleet for the stupidity of that dagget dung Apollo, I demand some sort of bargain be struck." Iblis said with vile anger in his voice. "Iblis, it wasn't Apollo's stupidity, but yours that caused this. But to be fair what sort of bargain do you have in mind?" asked John Iblis was quick to answer "you have a lot of faith in this Commander Michels, So much faith in fact that you wish to test him. So a test it shall be I would like to challenge him." "That cannot happen, Commander Michels isn't ready to meet you, not just yet anyway." "You fool" Iblis bellowed. "I wasn't talking about me just a few of my followers. "Just how many of your followers are we talking about?" asked John. "Oh maybe 10 or so." John quickly followed suit "How about 2?" Iblis followed with 7. John suggested 3 Iblis sensing he was getting nowhere fast said "5 and that's my final offer." John agreed and added; "Commander Michels must not know their names or origin." "Agreed" said Ra And he quickly, added "If Commander Michels dies. Earth becomes mine to do with what I please?" "But if he wins what will you give up in return?" "Iblis was again quick to answer "I will release the Hasari from their bonds." "Agreed on all accounts Iblis, when do you wish to begin?" "Within the centar." Iblis said and vanished John return to the conversation he was having before Iblis showed "Just as we expected, Now the fate of two nations rides in the hand of one man. Now tell me Adama, do you think he can do it?" Adama smiled as he looked at John "Yes my dear John I do. He is from my house, If my son Apollo can pull the fleet together after my death, So can Jason. I am only worried about one thing." "And that is?" quizzed John" "RA." "I know Adama, but this is his last chance, if not then this is all for naught."  
  
"Yahoooooo." Jason hollowed as the starfighter screamed down the launch tube. The fighter exited the ship and Jason soon found himself in space. He looked to his left and saw RA's own ship just 25 feet away from his. "Did you enjoy that launch Commander?" "You bet I did, man oh man was that a rush." Jason said his pulse was pounding and he could hardly breath. He watched as RA maneuvered the two ships to the top of the Battlestar. His eyes big as saucers, watched as the splendor and grandness of earth came into view. Suddenly he didn't feel so big any more. He felt totally insignificant. "My god isn't she beautiful?" Jason asked no one "Yes she is Commander, it would be a total waste for her to be destroyed." RA said. "Alpha flight one this is core control, you are clear for re-entry. Take a heading of 123 by 034." The Stennis is 300 miles due east of cape fear north Carolina. Her heading is 090 at 20 knots." "Copy that core control' "Alpha flight two this is core control, how did you like the launch Commander?" "Batgirl take the launch from the Stennis and multiply it by a factor of 10. It's a rush. Hope you get to experience it for your self." "Roger that Commander, have a safe trip and come back with those stogies the admiral has for me." "Copy that core control, alpha flight two out." Jason felt the ship turn to starboard and asked? "I thought we was heading to earth RA, we're heading away from her?" "Oh we're heading there all right, I thought You would like to see what this baby can do." "Sure, I would love." was all Jason could say because Ra took the ships into a steep climb. Jason felt the G-suit compress. Damn that was about a 3- G climb. Ra then did a series of maneuvers. First a barrel roll followed by a tight loop, a quick turn to port, followed by a high right bank. Ra leveled the ships off and said. "OK commander your turn." "Me, you got to be kidding right?" "I never kid Commander, now grabbed the stick and let me know when you have it." "Jason shook his head and ever so slightly wrapped his hand around the stick. He felt the stick ever move so slightly. He felt every little move RA was making. When he knew he was ready he said. "I have the stick." He felt the stick go dead, he move the stick to the right and the fighter move towards the right. "OK commander now remember, she has a sensitive stick. Use small movements and she'll follow you. Don't try to over do it. Unlike for plane, here you can't fall out of the sky, but you can run into things. Keep and eye on you scanner. The fighter has a navigational shield that will deflect most small objects. But you have to look out for the bigger ones. "OK sir, thanks for the advice." Jason smiled and looked at his scanner. He had a clear field except for and asteroid that was about 20,000 klicks away. He glanced at RA and gave him a quick salute. He hit the turbo button and started having fun. He banked to the right and twisted upwards. A quick snap roll leveled him out. He used ever maneuver he could think of. He juked and banked. He put the little ship through its paces. After about 5 minutes he glanced and saw RA had stayed right with him. "Not bad commander, not bad. Put its time we went about our business I have control."  
  
Jason felt the stick freeze and released it. The ships banked and headed back towards earth. He watched as Earth grew in size fast, almost too fast. When suddenly the ships slowed and stopped. "Commander, this is a most difficult reentry. Normally both pilots would perform such a maneuver separately, but since you have no experience in a powered reentry, I will do it." "Powered reentry?" asked Jason "Yes a powered reentry, you didn't think we would reenter the way your people does. No the ships would burn up. With a controlled powered reentry we can control the rate of descent. "Of course not, I was wondering how you would do it. Jason checked his watch 2100. They would be making a night landing on the Stennis. Jason hoped the old man could do it. He watched as they slowly made their descent over the California coast. The ship's engine cut back as they entered the Earth's atmosphere. "Whump." The ship rocked as she made contact with the Earth's atmosphere. She shook a little bit more. He checked the scanners and noticed the ships outside temp was barely moving up. Just as quick as the turbulence began it ended. "We're in the Earth's atmosphere, perhaps you better contact your ship commander and let them know we're heading their way. We'll be landing in fifteen minutes" "Homeplate, this is alpha flight two. Request instructions for landing procedures over." "Alpha flight two, this is homeplate. What is your twenty? Over." Came a voice over the Radio. Jason checked the scanners. They showed they were somewhere over Kansas. They had just crossed into night. "Homeplate this is Alpha flight. Just southeast of Topeka Kansas. ETA is 15 minutes." "Roger homeplate. Make you course 095. Boomer and Goose will escort you in. at current speed contact will commence at 50 miles out." "Roger homeplate. Be advised that we are no longer in a shuttle but two of the Eden's fighter's. A mechanical problem forced us to use them instead." "Err, wait one alpha flight." They waited for a few seconds and the voice of admiral Hawkins came over. "Apollo, what in the name of Elvis are you talking about. Two fighters. How in the hell are you flying it son?" "Homeplate this is alpha flight one. Fleet commander RA. Admiral I assure you this is perfectly safe. Commander Michels is just a passenger. The fighters are trainers and I control both. Sorry for the change of plans but there wasn't time." "Roger that alpha flight one. We will have a clear deck for you. How will you be landing?" Jason wondered that himself. How in the hell were they going to land the damn things." "RA came back over the air and said. "Homeplate, this is alpha flight one. We will land using the ships vertical landing system." Of course Jason thought the ship's had a VTOL or a vertical takeoff and Landing system." "Copy that Alpha flight. Homeplate out." For the next five minutes, they both were quiet. RA was humming. He couldn't quite make out what he was humming. He decided to check the scanner and see where they were Jason checked the scanner they were now passing over the eastern seaboard. The ship dropped till it was about 10,000 feet. As they crossed over the shoreline Jason muttered "Feet wet." "What was that commander?" RA asked. "Nothing really Sir, just a saying us navy pilots have when we cross over from land to water. When we hit land we say feet dry." "Interesting commander." RA said Jason checks the scanner and saw two fast moving blips heading towards them. "Must be Boomer and Goose." He thought "Commander, I see our escorts. I am slowing down to match their speed." Jason felt the fight slow as they neared the fighter. He saw the dark silhouette of two hornets. Suddenly the radio crackled to life. "Alpha flight this is the welcome mat. Please reduce your speed to 200 knots and stay on course 095." Said Lt. Commander Harvey "Boomer" Franks. "Copy that, welcome mat. Reducing power now." RA said The fighter slowed even more as the two hornets moved to either side of them. Jason was glad Boomer was the flight leader. He had a cool head on his shoulders and could fly the hell out of an airplane. "Alpha flight two this is Boomer, Commander glad to see your OK, me and they fellows was worried about you. "Roger that Boomer. Goose how are you doing?" Janet "Goose" Jefferson was the navy's first female pilot with a combat kill. She downs an Iranian F-14 over the Persian gulf. (Author's note: Iran does have a small number of F-14's left over from the days of the US back Shah. They are few in number any usually don't fly as spare parts are rare.) The Iranian pilot was a member of Al-Qaida. He somehow managed to elude the air patrols. And he was on a direct course for the Vinson. Boomer managed to put a sidewinder up his tailpipe, just 400 yards from the carrier. "I'm OK sir, just hoping this trail thing gets over in a hurry" she said with her deep southern accent." "Agree Goose, so show us the way home." "Roger that Apollo." They flew in silence for about 5 more minutes. Jason checks his scanner and saw the Stennis was coming up fast. "RA, we're approaching the Stennis" "I see that commander, I'll let you handle the landing procedures, As I am not familiar with them. "Yes sir, Homeplate this is Alpha flight request permission to land." "Roger that you are number one in the loop. Seas are moderate with 5-ft swells. Winds are out of the northeast at 15 knots. "Roger homeplate." Jason turned his attention back to RA "Sir make a pass to the ship on her starboard side. And make a port turn to line yourself up." "Starboard side which one is that?" "The right side sir." "OK commander, will you look at that, she's such a small ship" RA noticed as he eased the fighters pass the ship. He made a turn to port. Jason felt excitement rise in the pit of his stomach. It always happen when he landed on a carrier "Now sir the next voice you here will that of the LSO or signal landing officer. He will guide you in. He'll ask you to call the ball, which is a landing device we have on the ship. It's on the port side of the ship, near the stern. It's a lens system that tracks your altitude. The ball is a circle of light that moves with you. It has three colors green yellow and red. Green means you're on the right glide slope. Yellow means your too high and red means your too low. The LSO will also give you hints as to your glide path. If you here the word bolter, go around and try again. When you pass over her stern look for a pair of green lights. A crewman will hold them. He will guide you down" "Simple commander, but effective. I'll keep everything in mind, damn your ship is pitching." "Yes sir, with moderate seas the ship is going to move around a little bit. You should try landing on her with heavy seas." "I can only imagine commander. Is that an invitation?" "Yes sir any time you like." "OK then commander I will accept your invitation, but only if you pass the trial." Jason noticed they had lined up for their final approach. "Alpha flight this is Commander Richards, I am your LSO. Has commander Michels brief you on out landing procedures?" "That's a copy Commander I am ready to call the ball as he called it. "OK sir, then call the Ball" RA looked at the ship, he looked for what Commander Michels described and soon found it. "Calling ball." The LSO's voice then took over. "Your slope is good, little low, add some power. Good, good. You low, add some more power. That's good. Jason watched as RA guided the ships over the Stennis ramp. He spotted the wands before RA did. "I see the lights commander." RA had slowed the ships speed down to the point they were hovering. Jason closed his eyes. He didn't like landing a plane if he wasn't flying it. He felt his ship touch down and he opened his eyes. They were down. The yellow shirt as he was called directed them towards the island. He passed them off to another yellow shirt that placed them in position. He signaled stop and the ships stopped moving. "Nice landing Sir." "Thank you commander, you may shut the engines down." Jason quickly flipped some switches and the ship's engines died. He opened the canopy and waited for RA. RA was climbing down from his own ship and approached Jason's. "Commander, that was a most exhilarating experience. But our time is short here, I suggest you get down and do you business." Jason nodded and placed the funky looking helmet on the console and climbed down. He watched as the flight deck personal had managed to tie the ships down. As he got down he paused. The sights, smells and sounds of a working flight deck. He walked over to RA who was busy inspecting his ship. "This is really quite amazing commander. It's like the most amazing thing I've ever seen." "Yes sir, we call it a ballet at sea. Every person on the flight deck has a specified job. One false move during flight ops can cause disaster. Once running it's a well oil machine. Jason motioned RA to follow him they entered the ship's island and started up a flight of metal stairs. "Where we going Commander?" RA asked "The ship's bridge. From there you can see more of the flight deck. There we will meet with the ship's captain and Admiral Hawkins." "Very well commander lead the way." They walked up too more flights of stairs. And Jason opened a door. RA stepped into the Stennis' bridge. A young man perhaps 24 stood to attention and yelled "fleet Commander on deck." The activity on the bridge paused for a moment and then everyone went back to his or her business. RA noticed a man sitting in a chair on the left side of the bridge. He too a sip of beverage from his cup and stood to meet them. He extended his hand and said "Fleet Commander RA, I'm Captain Mark Wilson. On behalf of the men and women of the USS Stennis, I welcome you aboard. I hope your trip was uneventful?" RA took the Captain's hand. "Thank you sir, quite an impressive ship you have here." "Thank you, but it pales in comparison to yours. "Very kinds words captain. But if I might make this short. We are only here for a few moments. And time is wasting." "Of course Fleet Commander. The supplies are being brought up as we speak. Admiral Hawkins is on his way down he should be here in a moment. While we wait, can I offer you some coffee or some water?" "Coffee, that sounds a lot like caffee. A hot beverage it comes from a bean that is roasted." "Fleet Commander, I belive we are talking about the same thing. Please follow me." Jason watched as RA followed Captain Wilson. Strange bedfellows those to would make. He turned and almost ran into a young seaman. "Excuse me son." "It's all right sir, Admiral Hawkins wants to see you outside on vultures row sir." "Oh really?" Yes sir I had orders when you arrived on the bridge to escort you to vultures row." Jason understood why. He nodded and said if RA asks he went to the head. He glanced over to where RA and the Captain were. Good, the Captain was keeping him busy. He slipped out a side door that led to vulture's row. His eyes quickly grew accustom to the night and saw admiral Hawkins standing on the far end. He walked over and said "You wanted to see me sir?" "The Admiral was a short spark plug of a man. Barley made the navy's height requirement. He took a sip of coffee and said "Commander, I need to know something right now. Do you trust the man." "Sir I don't know the" "Wrong answer son do you trust him yes or no. None of this middle of the road bullshit." "Yes sir, I do belive I do?" "With your life?" "Yes sir, but what is this all about." "Washington wants to know. We are at def-con 4. We haven't been there since the Cuban missile crisis. Commander are you sure you are up to this?" "Yes sir with all my soul I belive so." "Good that's what I wanted to hear. For what I have to say are for your ears and you ears only. We have a surprise for RA if he decides we aren't fit for survival. I cannot go into detail. But we know he hacked into the pentagon's computers and has a full list of all our defenses. Save one. It's so black its not listed in any linked PC. But we are ready for him just in case do I make myself clear?" "Yes sir you do." "Even if it means you death and those of you shipmates onboard the Eden?" "Yes I do sir. I swore to defend the constitution of the United States of America. Even with my own life." "Good now disappear." Jason turned and walked back into the ship through another door. He re- entered the bridge and saw RA talking with Captain Wilson. "Ah there you are commander, I understand you had to use the turboflush?" "Turboflush, Oh yes sir, I had to go to the bathroom. How do you like your coffee?" "Its just fine commander. The Captain says its something called starbuck or starbucks. Really good if I say so myself. Now where is this admiral of..." Ra was cut off by the same young Sailor as before when he walked on the bridge? "Admiral on the bridge." "As you were." Admiral Hawkins bellowed "fleet commander RA, I'm so sorry for the delay, but the USS Kidd had trouble with her engines and I was talking with her skipper. Now welcome aboard." "Thank you Admiral. I must say this is a smooth operation you have here. How many ships do you command?" "Usually between 10 to 15 depending on the operations involved." "Really. Like I said before this is so amazing. Its so primitive, yet it works." I cannot wait to see these ships during the daylight. But enough small talk admiral. Are the supplies ready?" "yes sir, they are being brought up as we speak. They will be waiting outside the hatch to the flight deck when you are ready to leave." RA took another sip of his coffee; He then drained the cup and handed it to a seaman who was standing nearby. "Is they're any of this coffee in the supplies?" "Yes sir, we included some along with a good sampling of food. I hope you like steak, it's the best food we have onboard." "I'm sure it will be fine." Ra looked at his wrist and said "It's time to go Commander, I don't know about you, but I am a little hungry." Jason nodded and said "Sirs until next time, I hope we meet again under better circumstances." Jason came to attention and did an about face he opened the door for RA and was about to leave when the same sailor he ran into earlier, stopped him. "Sir, these just came up from the galley. So I know their fresh." Jason looked at the box the sailor was holding. It was a box of doughnuts. He accepted the box and said "Thanks son, this will be a welcome sight on the Eden." He left the bridge and saw that RA was waiting on him "What you have there commander?" Jason opened the box and showed RA. He picked up a chocolate glazed doughnut and handed it to RA "There called doughnuts sir. A sweet, it goes good with coffee. Here take this one, there are plenty more." RA took the pastry and took a small bite. His eyes widen as the sweetness overwhelmed him. "I can see why commander, this is very good." Ra took another bite and followed Jason down the ladder well. 


End file.
